JNF’s new land grab drives wedge between Israel and liberal diaspora Jews


Neither the Biden administration nor the liberal diaspora are impressed by the KKL's latest move. But the writing has been on the wall for decades

Alon settlement in the Judaean desert, east of Jerusalem, in the West Bank

Lily Galili reports in Middle East Eye:

Days before he made his long-awaited first call to Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden will have had to acquaint himself with the latest issue driving a wedge between Israel and his nascent Democratic administration – not to mention the American Jewish diaspora.

The Jewish National Fund, known in Hebrew as Keren Kayemet Le Israel (KKL), on 11 February had announced a dramatic policy change: officially authorising the purchase of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and accelerating illegal settlement building.

The move has outraged Jewish organisations affiliated with the KKL and forced the US State Department to address the issue much earlier than expected.  Asked about the policy change, the new State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters in Washington: “We believe it is critical to refrain from unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and that undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution.”

Liberal Jewish organisations in the diaspora were more forthright in their anger: “The JNF plan to expand settlements endangers its existence,” warned Jewish groups.  Meanwhile questions have been asked of the KKL splinter group, the Jewish National Fund-USA (JNF-USA).

Across the Atlantic, the story has drawn little attention among the Israeli public, however. That is how it is when only five percent of respondents say in a poll recently conducted by Channel 12 that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has some relevance to their vote.

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