Retrieving the Jewish Land and Keeping it in Jewish Hands

Hillel Fendel
A7 News

The Israel Land Fund has embarked upon a campaign to once again implement the original goals of the Jewish National Fund.

“Take part in the restoration of the Land of Israel now!” calls out the new website of the Israel Land Fund. The group was founded by Jerusalem land activist Aryeh King and others in 2007, with the stated goal of “continuing the original efforts by the Jewish forefathers, and in more recent history, over a century ago, by pioneers of the State.” Specifically, the Fund (ILF) has set out to “acquire all the land of Israel for the Jewish people,” by inviting Jews around the world to help retrieve properties currently under Arab ownership, or that are in danger of becoming so.

The ILF’s website states that it strives to “enable all Jewish non-Israeli citizens to own a part of Israel [and] to ensure that Jewish land is once again reclaimed and in Jewish hands.”

The organization offers a combination of business prospects and ideology. “Invest in Israel and yield high returns,” it states, offering various properties around the country that are currently available – and recommended for Jewish purchase.

“With hundreds of properties all over Israel being offered for sale,” ILF states, “the Israel Land Fund offers every Jew, regardless of location, the opportunity to obtain a portion of the land. House by house, lot by lot, the Israel Land Fund is ensuring the land of Israel stays in the hands of the Jewish people forever. You, too, can take part in this great endeavor.”

The site has sections on the various areas of Israel, proposing sale of properties in Jerusalem, where Arabs have made it their goal to purchase widely, as well as the Galilee, the Negev, Acco (Acre), Jaffa, and elsewhere.

Information Treasures and Proposals

It is also a veritable treasure house of information on the different parts of the Land of Israel. It tells us, for instance, that Acco, in northwestern Israel, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities, dating back to 1504 BCE, and was once a leading port in the Middle East, in the same league as Alexandria and Constantinople. Web-site visitors are offered a three-story house in Acco, with arches and a sea-view balcony, next door to Jewish neighbors and in need of some renovation.

Group investments are encouraged as well, such as in the following proposal in Jaffa: a 300-square-meter plot with three large apartments offered, with an option to add another penthouse apartment. Information on the religious-Zionist Jaffa core-group, currently numbering 28 families, is provided.

Rising Values, Jewish Law, Politics

The website also emphasizes and details the increasing land values in Israel in general, the importance in Jewish Law of buying plots in the Land of Israel, and the need to counter-act the trend of hostile and enemy elements to purchase properties.