Spending time with the KKL-JNF Australia Next Decade Leadership Initiative was no simple task. The group of fourteen young adults, who will become the board members and lay leaders of JNF Australia in the near future, spent thirteen intense days traveling Israel’s breadth and length from early morn to late evening, during which they learned about the economic, social and security challenges facing Israeli society.

The mission, which was a crash course in all aspects of Israeli life and the part KKL-JNF plays in addressing various environmental and educational issues, was envisioned and planned by Shalom Norman, former KKL-JNF shaliah to Australia, who is now based in Israel. Shalom told us that the members of the group had been carefully chosen during a process that began two years ago: “Our goal was to choose young professionals who displayed a high level of commitment to KKL-JNF and to Israel, and to prepare them to be the next generation of leaders of JNF Australia. Our approach is that we are here as partners, not as big brothers and little brothers.”

Yatir Forest, Bedouin Culture and Some Surprising Regional Plans
We joined the group at KKL-JNF’s Yatir Forest, where they met with Itzik Moshe, deputy head of KKL-JNF’s Southern Region, who described the challenges of creating and maintaining a forest in the semi-arid western Negev: “Yatir Forest was planted in 1964 in an area that receives an average of only 280 mms. of rainfall annually. KKL-JNF’s focus here is not just on trees, but on how to manage a semi-arid environment, which means water, tourism, agriculture, grazing and local infrastructure. We cooperate with the local Bedouin population and as a result, there were no fires here during the first intifada.”

In answer to a question about whether KKL-JNF would be planting trees native to the region in the future, Itzik Moshe answered in the affirmative: “Further south, in the Arava desert, we are implementing a joint project with JNF Australia to bring back the acacia trees that were cut down when the Arava villages were built. If you look down in the valley, you can see bulldozers at work, clearing an area for a new 250 acre forest, a twinning project being carried out together with the government of South Australia. The soil in the valley is high quality, so we will be planting wide-leafed trees that were common in the area in biblical times.”

Shalom Norman added that another joint KKL-JNF – Australia project in the making was a memorial to the ANZAC cavalrymen from Australia and New Zealand who fought in the Negev region during World War I, including the restoration of a dry riverbed in the Besor region.

Our next stop was at the Joe Alon Museum for Bedouin Culture, a KKL-JNF sponsored institution also located in Yatir Forest. Mr. Salema Abu Debas, the treasurer of Rahat, the largest Bedouin city in the world, spoke about the rapid changes Israeli Bedouins were experiencing and mentioned some of the complexities of Bedouin Negev settlement: “The population of Rahat is 45,000 and we are adding on new neighborhoods. In 1948, there were 10,000 Bedouins in the Negev. Today there are 150,000 – 200,000. Bedouin society is undergoing a process of urbanization and change. Who would have imagined a few years ago that we would heat food up in microwave ovens? Today, there are more female high school graduates than males. There are a lot of land issues that still need to be resolved, but we do sense that the government has a desire to cooperate with us and reach agreements acceptable to both sides. We enjoy an excellent relationship with the Bnei Shimon Regional Council and also with KKL-JNF, which has worked together with us on issues such as grazing in the forests and open lands, and has created urban parks and sponsored our participation in World Cleanup Day.”

In a region like the western Negev, sustainability also means settlement. KKL-JNF is very involved in supporting the local communities and helping them find means of livelihood. After a visit to the Dolav Plastic Bins factory, a joint venture of Kibbutz Lahav and Kibbutz Dvir, the mission met with two entrepreneurs whose Negev projects enjoy KKL-JNF support.

Zion Offri is the general manager of the motor park that is being built on KKL-JNF land in the western Negev. As Mr. Offri explained, in the first stage, the park will consist of 220 dunams of motor sports, including a section for safety training skills to prevent accidents, a hotel and cafés. The site will host European motor sports enthusiasts who cannot train in Europe between November and March. KKL-JNF is responsible for landscape planning. The park will provide employment for 500 – 600 local residents.

Shalom Norman discussed the dilemmas KKL-JNF addressed when deciding to support this project: “KKL-JNF is always open to new ideas. The question was, how can we initiate joint ventures with the private sector but still ensure that the lands are kept open? We realize that in order for this region to thrive, there must be ways for people to make a living here. We are at the beginning of this process, and it is quite complex.”

Gil Shevadron, Mazda agent in southern Israel, is also realizing a dream he has had for years: “I live in Beersheba and do volunteer work with youth at risk, people with drug abuse problems and kids with special needs. On the land KKL-JNF has provided us, we are building an activities center for people with special needs, which will include a therapeutic horseback riding ranch, a challenge park and a place for sleeping out under the stars. It is very moving for me to see young people coming from far-off Australia who are so dedicated to Israel. It really makes me feel that we are one people.” The center, which will open in April 2009, is already being built, and the delegation visited the site.
Gaza Strip Evacuees at Shomeria: An Eternal People does not Fear a Long Road
Shalom Norman’s policy for the Australian future leadership mission focused on exposing the group to the complexities and conflicts of Israeli reality. One of the group’s most moving meetings was at Shomeria, a village in the Lachish region where former residents of Atzmona in the Gaza Strip were resettled. In fact, this dedicated group of people was evacuated from their homes twice. They had originally lived in the Sinai Peninsula, from where they were evacuated after the peace treaty with Egypt. The government resettled them in the Gaza Strip, where they were promised that they could stay forever. A different future, however, was in store for them, and in 2005, they were once again driven out of their homes and agricultural lands as part of the unilateral disengagement from Gaza that was carried out by the government of Ariel Sharon.

Unlike other Gaza Strip evacuees, this group refused to be separated and preferred to live in tents rather than have their tight-knit community dismantled. Their stubbornness paid off. The government gave them this former Hashomer Hatzair kibbutz in the relatively barren Lachish region to resettle as a community. Most families are still living in temporary structures, but they are hopeful about the future. With the help of its Australian friends, KKL-JNF built a new playground for the 500 children whose happy voices fill the air of this remote village.

Mr. David Raisch, Shomria’s CEO, spoke with the group about his feelings and what it means to be a Zionist and a pioneer today: “People ask us if our beliefs about Israel are realistic. Was Zionism realistic one hundred years ago? People say we are dreamers. Maybe realistic people stayed in Europe before World War II. What’s more realistic - Lehman Brothers or a cow in a dairy? For us, it begins with faith and ends with faith. We don’t have answers to all the questions, but neither do the realists.

“We feel that it is our responsibility to pioneer in this region on behalf of our brothers and sisters in New York and Australia, everywhere in the world. Are we afraid of being thrown out of our homes a third time? It makes no difference to us – if we are, we will build a new community elsewhere. As Rabbi Kook said, an eternal people is not afraid of a long road. Our patience is infinite, and when our enemies understand that our commitment is non-negotiable, they will accept our presence here. I met many times with the Arab leaders of Gaza when we lived there. They are not the problem. It is the uncertainty we project as a nation that weakens us.”

As the sun set, we stood at the edge of the playground, looking out towards the horizon. “When we came here, there was no water for agriculture, so we hooked up a pipe that brought us water from Kibbutz Lahav. Down in the valley, KKL-JNF is building a new reservoir and in a year from now, we will have water! KKL-JNF was flexible in cutting through red tape where the government was not.”

Shalom Norman concluded by saying that although he disagreed with many of David Raischs’ ideas, he totally supports and admires what he and his community are accomplishing here: “We have survived as a people not because we agree on everything, but because we disagree on almost everything.”

A New and Fresh Perspective:
Meeting with former IDF Chief of Staff, Moshe Ya’alon
As we mentioned earlier, the Australian mission had the opportunity to meet some of the most fascinating people in present-day Israel. One of them was Moshe Ya’alon, former IDF Chief of Staff. His analysis of the present situation in Israel and his conclusions riveted the group, as evidenced by the many questions that he was asked and the discussion that continued until he had to leave.

“I think that one of our mistakes as westerners is that we are always looking for solutions,” Ya’alon began. “There are no shortcuts. Zionism was rejected by Arab nationalism and still is to this day. Our enemies believe that they have identified the weak link of Israeli society – our ability to withstand terror against civilian populations. Why are missiles showered on Sderot rather than on the many military installations on the border of the Gaza Strip? It is because they believe that in this manner, they will weaken our willingness to be here.

“I was brought up as part of the Labor Movement and supported the Oslo agreements, but when I was appointed head of army intelligence in 1995, I read what Arafat and his people were saying to their own people, and saw that bottom line, they did not and do not recognize our right to exist as an independent Jewish state. I think we suffer from two maladies – what I call solution-ism and now-ism. We need to realize that not every problem has an immediate solution.
“In Israel today, we are led by politicians, not by leaders. Westerners are ready to be manipulated by marketing, which accounts for the success of some very mediocre position-holders we have here today. I believe in change coming about from bottom-up rather than top-down, so I have decided to concentrate on educating our young people, who are shamefully ignorant of Jewish tradition and Jewish history. I say that as a secular, non-religious Jew. I believe in our people, our energy and spirit – that is our secret.”

One of the mission members asked Ya’alon how he saw the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora.

“I don’t distinguish between Jews here and Jews abroad. The IDF is the army of the Jewish people. The legitimacy of the Jewish state should be fought for in Melbourne, Sydney, and everywhere else, on campuses, the Internet – the front is everywhere.”

Ammunition Hill, an Israeli War Hero, and Jerusalem Forever
On the last day of their stay in Israel, the delegation visited KKL-JNF headquarters in Jerusalem where they received an explanation about KKL-JNF’s Golden Books and met with KKL-JNF Co-Chairman Mr. Avraham Duvdevani. From there they went to Ammunition Hill, where they were greeted and hosted by Colonel (res.) Shimon “Katcha” Cahaner, a living legend who served in the legendary Unit 101 and was wounded several times. As an officer in the Paratroopers he fought for the liberation of Jerusalem in the Six Day War and was the commander of the Paratrooper brigade in the Yom Kippur War. He is now the chairman of the Ammunition Hill Memorial, which was built with the help of KKL-JNF Australia.

“Katcha” spoke about what Jerusalem and the Ammunition Hill memorial mean for him: “Jerusalem is the high point of my life and soul. When I fought here and when I walk here today, I feel I am walking history. After the Six Day War, we started to build this site in memory of the 182 soldiers who fell conquering Jerusalem and in order to impart the values our soldiers fought for. Eleven years ago, I had an unusual experience – I hosted the Jordanian commanders who we fought against here. They told me that they fought like lions, but we fought like people for whom defeat was not an alternative, so they eventually surrendered.

“We are now building a Documentation Center for Jewish War Veterans of all of the countries of the world. You are one of the first groups to see it. Did you know, for example, that one and a half million Jewish soldiers fought in World War II in the various armies? Israel’s population at the time was 350,000 and 34,000 volunteered to fight in the British army – ten percent, the highest percentage in the world.

“Today I am a cattle breeder, a Jewish cowboy, but I will never forget the electricity that passed through my hands when I first touched the stones of the Old City of Jerusalem in 1967.”

The group left Ammunition Hill by walking through the trenches in which some of the fiercest fighting of the war took place, an everlasting reminder of the price we paid for our holy city. Shalom Norman spoke about why KKL-JNF was involved in this project: “For us, this site is educational, it plays an important role in making future generations aware of how precious Jerusalem is for us. As Moshe Ya’alon said, our future depends on education. And that’s basically what your thirteen day trip has been about.”

We asked Russel Port, a marketing and positioning manager, about the visit and about why he chose to volunteer for JNF: “Shalom keeps telling us that this is a fact-finding mission, and that’s what it’s been. There are a lot of Jewish organizations, but I chose JNF because it’s about connecting to the land. Most of the other organizations deal with various forms of social services, but you’ve got to have the land before you can provide social services. JNF is not just trees, it’s about people, water, environment, security roads and facilities for the physically challenged. It has something for everyone.

“People still identify JNF with the Blue Box, and we want to change that. It’s funny; we found that even many Israelis don’t know much about what JNF does. We need to change how people perceive JNF. That’s where my professional skills come in – marketing and positioning are just what we need for this.”

March Dunn, a 26 year-old stock market analyst, told us that 80 percent of Australian Jewish children study in Jewish schools, one of the highest percentages in the world. “There is a lot of Jewish awareness in Australia, but not always enough awareness about Israel. The main point I want to make back home is that JNF is not a charity; it is an investment for the entire Jewish people. And if people are making money, some of it should be for Israel. For me, Israel is my passion.”

Barry Meskin, an intellectual property lawyer, summed the mission up very succinctly: “Until now, when I talked to people about JNF and Israel, I presented them with facts and projects. Now, as a result of what I have seen, heard and experienced, I will be able to tell them stories, and stories open people’s hearts.”