These words of the visionary David Ben Gurion have never held more significance and truth, for the Negev’s arid land mass accounts for 60% of Israel, but less than 8% of the population lives in its barren, rocky, austere, yet beautiful terrain.

From 2005 onwards, and at the request of the Israeli government, the whole of JNF/KKL internationally has refocussed its efforts on the development of viable new communities in the Negev. JNF Australia’s share of the challenging task is concentrated on the Bnei Shimon region, covering an area of approximately 120,000 acres of the north eastern Negev.The key to this challenge is water!

This arid region gets an average annual rainfall of 280mm, and suffers drought seven years out of ten. It has no access to treated water and the fresh water supply is not only limited but costs twice as much, so crops cannot compete in demanding export markets.

JNF Australia’s role will be the sponsorship, through KKL, of two large-scale water treatment plants that will enable the region to develop a sustainable source of income from agriculture.

Ben Gurion’s dream of nearly sixty years ago is at last starting to be realised by solving the problem of water shortage.

• 13 Jewish communities in the region – the fi rst 4 established in October 1946; the most recent, Givot bar, in 2004.
• 40 families already living in Givot Bar and another 150 waiting for infrastructure to be developed.
• Of the total regional population of close to 60,000, 6000 are Jewish and over 50,000 are Bedouin. Rahat is the biggest Bedouin town in the world.
• Hundreds of acres of orchards were eliminated in the 1990s due to the limited water resources.
• Bnei Shimon’s 30,000 acres receive average annual rainfall of 200-280mm. Most of the cultivated land is not irrigated and gets enough rain for profi table grain farming on average only one in 5 years.
• Archaeological sites in the Bnei Shimon region evidence successful Jewish settlements cultivating vines and olive trees during the Talmudic period.
• Industries active in the region include the production and export of world-leading drip irrigation systems, plastics and paprika (even to Hungary!).

There can be no sustainable agricultural development in the Negev without water. But fresh water from the Mekerot National Water Company’s system is costly and has increased in price by more than 40% in the last fi ve years, to uneconomic levels. JNF Australia’s newest project represents a “fresh” solution to this problem.

For the Bnei Shimon region in the northern Negev the answer is the treatment of waste water in two huge recycling reservoirs. The result is a dramatic reduction in sewage out flows from nearby Hebron, and 2.4 million cubic metres of treated water per year for agricultural use – at half the fresh water price.

Where crops grow, population is close behind.

JNF Australia has worked as a catalyst for the entire project and is aiming to raise AUS$5-8 million in funding, which the Israeli government has agreed to match.

The vision of Bnei Shimon’s Regional Council is to double the current Jewish population from its current total of 6000.

To achieve this means attracting people from central Israel’s overcrowded cities seeking an attractive environment, quality of life, employment opportunities and economic stability.

Established in 2004, an early example is the new village of Givot Bar (“wild hills”) in the centre of the Regional Council area.

The core group of this new rural community consists of 25 families but will become home to 600 families when fully developed to its second stage.

Currently in cultivation are wheat, irrigated sweetcorn, potatoes, paprika, jojoba and garlic; its orchards grow a broad range of fruit such as
persimmons, passion fruit and cactus fruit. These are all crops with low water demand.

The first enterprise to benefit from the relatively cheap water provided by Bnei Shimon’s two waste water recycling reservoirs will be a 500 hectare (1200 acre) olive orchard, with over 240,000 trees.

The high-tech project is being planned by local kibbutzim and is based on the Barnea olive, specially developed in Israel’s Volcani Institute for its premium quality and high oil yield under irrigation.

What is likely to become Israel’s largest olive plantation will not only be the realisation of a dream – to renew the ancient olive industry dating back to biblical times – but will make Israel a major player in the growing world market for extra virgin olive oil.

The science and technology have already been implemented with great success in the southern hemisphere, including Australia.

Vision, dedication, pioneering spirit – that’s what it takes to build a miracle in the desert.

For over a century, the Jewish National Fund has joined with people like you to build the land of Israel. Today we face the challenge of a lifetime
– developing the Negev, the last of Israel’s untouched resources.

Progress begins with the birth of a water supply, the building of roads, houses and schools – the establishment of a community.

Become a partner in this all-important national project to provide a viable future for the new pioneers of the Bnei Shimon region of the northern Negev.