JNF Australia launches its new Negev Campaign
Posted: Thu, 01 Dec 2005 - ACT,NSW,VIC,QLD,WA,SA,TAS,NT

This November, the Jewish National Fund of Australia launched its vital new campaign to promote life in the Negev in all the main Jewish centres of Australia. Aside from the appeal of the project itself, the campaign raised the attention of the entire Australian Jewish community through the high profile of the speakers secured by JNF. In Sydney, the campaign was launched by former US Vice President Al Gore and in Melbourne by Douglas Wood - the Australian/American hostage held in Iraq. The KKL-JNF family was well represented by our World Chairman, Yehiel Leket who officially launched the campaign in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Gold Coast and who also delivered stirring messages to the communities of Sydney and Melbourne. The Australian campaign aims to raise funds to conquer the serious threat to the future of the northern Negev through lack of water. It plans to boost the agricultural potential of the area - with particular emphasis on olive plantations - by the use of recycled water which will enable the region to expand its population by attracting families from crowded urban areas and thus ensure their ongoing wellbeing in a planned and productive environment. The project will sponsor two water treatment plants with capacity of close to 2 million cubic metres to treat and recycle sewage water that runs into the valley. One will be developed near Kibbutz Lahav and a smaller one near Kibbutz Devir . The resultant treated water will be available for agriculture at 50 per cent of the cost of fresh water. Al Gore, the man who, but for some questionable election procedures in 2000 could have been president of the United States, keynoted one of the JNF's most successful communal and fund raising events in Australia. Launching the campaign in Sydney significantly entitled "Negev Tomorrow ", Gore thrilled a sell-out audience of over 1000 strong in one of Sydney's most modern convention centres with both his environmental overview and his command of the current world stage. Sydney Jewish community support for JNF's environmental work has been strengthening significantly over the past three to four years in the main, thanks to its professional leadership and outstanding support from JNF NSW Patron Harry Triguboff - the host of the VP Al Gore "Negev Tomorrow" gala event. Westfield supremo, Frank Lowy and staunch supporters such as Lotte and Ervin Vidor. 57 year old Gore, the son of former US Senator, Albert Gore Sr. has been a forthright supporter of Israel and has frequently spoken out on key issues of the current Middle East question. "The only basis for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and the principle of land for peace", Gore maintains. Referring to the JNF within Australia Gore noted that "The Jewish community of Australia has been enormously supportive of the JNF in its environmental efforts over the past years" adding that "as a result, JNF can lay claim to an impressive record of higher per capita contributions to projects in Israel than most other Diaspora communities." Not the least of this is having the highest Blue Box ownership of any community in the world, regardless of population totals. In his far reaching overview of world events with particular emphasis on the ecology and specifically the vital question of overcoming global warming, Gore also touched on world events, telling the enthusiastic audience that current events in Iran which he called "unbelievably disturbing" may well have been a blessing in disguise. The response to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's October 26 tirade, especially in the United Nations, was "unusually gratifying", Gore said. "Statements by world leaders who have not often been automatically supportive of Israel's cause were similarly somewhat gratifying, and the European tendency to be sometimes obsequious towards Iran was brought up short," he said. "The reaction to, and realisation provoked by the Iranian president's statement may well have been one of those well-disguised blessings." In Melbourne, the audience that included JNF Victoria major donors Helen Alter & Tom & Rae Mandel as well as JNF Life President Victor Fonda (who has served JNF for more than 78 years as a volunteer & leader -an amazing record of service & commitment) reacted enthusiastically to Douglas Woods' recounting of his time as a hostage in Iraq and the world's need not to give in to terrorism. He said that "a strong democratic Iraq in the Middle East bodes well for Israel" The campaign launch in Melbourne focused on the need to do something NOW for the Negev in order to ensure a better tomorrow. In an impassioned outline of the JNF's contribution to the welfare of the Israeli people, KKL chairman, Yechiel Leket told the various audiences he addressed throughout Australia that there was never a more pressing need for Diaspora communities to support the organisation, in turn creating a better lifestyle for the Israeli people. His message: "your support equals better housing, better air, better water supplies, better roads - all the things which we in the western world not only take for granted but consider our right to have". Aside from addressing the various campaign functions, Mr. Leket also undertook a gruelling round of meetings with communal identities and opinion leaders in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Gold Coast and Brisbane as well as Zionist leaders, school children and youth leaders in order to reinforce his message and gain even greater acceptance for the local JNF organisation. The JNF Campaign Launch was enhanced through the beautiful voice and music of Shuly Nathan who enchanted audiences with her moving renditions of Hebrew and Yiddish songs. Whilst Shuly reminded all of us of our love for a Jerusalem of Gold, the campaign reminded our supporters of the need to raise gold in order to ensure a Negev that is green. To this end, the JNF Australia campaign got off to a golden start that we hope will translate into the early fulfillment of the vision that David Ben Gurion had for the Negev - a vision that remains as much as a challenge for Israel today as it was when Ben Gurion uttered his famous words "The Negev will be the test of the creative ability and pioneering valor of Israel."