JNF (Jewish National Fund)

The Jewish National Fund (JNF, Hebrew: Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, or KKL) is an international nonprofit founded in 1901 at the Fifth Zionist Congress to purchase and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. Now a 125-year-old institution, KKL-JNF owns roughly 13% of Israeli land and operates on a 2026 budget of NIS 1.87 billion (about $598 million) under its youngest-ever chairman, Eyal Ostrinsky.

What Does JNF Actually Own and Operate in Israel?

JNF owns approximately 13% of Israeli land and operates Israel's largest forestry program, having planted more than 250 million trees. It runs major water-resource and rural-development programs across the Negev and Galilee, and conducts large-scale fundraising operations across diaspora Jewish communities, most prominently through JNF-USA, making the organization a structural element of Israeli land use, agricultural policy and Israel-diaspora philanthropic infrastructure.

Who Leads KKL-JNF Today?

Eyal Ostrinsky became chairman of KKL-JNF on January 1, 2026, elected by the organization's board as part of a World Zionist Congress coalition agreement, succeeding Ifat Ovadia-Luski, who had served since December 2022 as the organization's first woman chair. At 41, Ostrinsky became the youngest person to lead the organization in decades; he is set to serve a two-and-a-half-year term before handing the chairmanship to a representative of a different political bloc under the coalition agreement. In April 2026, KKL-JNF appointed Ilan Shohat as chief executive officer, ending a nearly three-year stretch without a permanent CEO. JNF-USA, the organization's largest diaspora fundraising arm, is led by President Deb Lust Zaluda, Chairman Dr. Sol Lizerbram and CEO Russell F. Robinson.

What Is in KKL-JNF's 2026 Budget?

KKL-JNF's board unanimously approved a NIS 1.87 billion ($598 million) budget for 2026, Ostrinsky's first as chairman, which increases funding for land management and education, includes an unusual allocation supporting the Druze community of southern Syria, and, in a rare move for the organization, reduces overhead costs. Nearly half of the regular budget, NIS 870 million (about $280 million), funds the organization's own core activities, an increase of roughly NIS 100 million over the prior year. Ostrinsky has also pushed to cap headcount near 1,250 employees rather than the 1,400 positions originally budgeted, saying staffing had grown too large in recent years.

How Has KKL-JNF Responded to the Post-October 7 Period?

Ostrinsky has said KKL-JNF is broadening its support for Jewish communities worldwide amid rising antisemitism, while reaffirming the organization's core mission of settlement, forestry and national development. The organization doubled its annual operating budget for combating antisemitism and developing Jewish leadership on university campuses, from NIS 3 million ($900,000) to NIS 6 million ($1.8 million), and has invested NIS 75 million (about $23.4 million) in redevelopment projects at Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the communities hit hardest in the October 7, 2023 attacks.

See also: Keren Hayesod · The Jewish Agency for Israel · ILA