JNF (Jewish National Fund)
International nonprofit founded 1901 to purchase and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. Today owns approximately 13% of Israeli land, operates significant forestry, water, and rural-development programs, and runs major fundraising operations across diaspora Jewish communities. Hebrew name: Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL).
The Jewish National Fund (JNF — Hebrew: Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, or KKL) is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1901 at the Fifth Zionist Congress to purchase and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The organization predates the State of Israel by nearly half a century and remains one of the oldest continuously operating Jewish institutions.
Why it matters. JNF today owns approximately 13% of Israeli land, operates Israel's largest forestry program (over 250 million trees planted), runs major water-resource and rural-development programs across the Negev and Galilee, and conducts major fundraising operations across diaspora Jewish communities — particularly JNF-USA. The organization is a structural element of Israeli land use, agricultural policy, and Israel-diaspora philanthropic infrastructure.
See also: Keren Hayesod · The Jewish Agency for Israel · ILA