110th Celebrations

Building Israel’s future was the theme for the 110th anniversary celebrations held by the JNF on Saturday night, where just over 200 guests, including Matthew Offord MP, heard from the Israeli Ambassador Daniel Taub and Knesset member Dr Nachman Shai.

Samuel Hayek, chairman of the JNF, described the dinner as marking “110 years of helping to turn Zionist dreams into Israeli reality.”

Invoking the pioneering work of the early Zionists who built the cities of Tel-Aviv and Haifa, he stated the great challenge for the JNF at the moment was the development of the Negev, noting, “Now, we are drawing upon the same vigour and determination to conquer a great new challenge – to build the Jewish story on the landscape of the Negev.”

The recent completion of a school for the children of Halutzit, who until now have been taught in pre-fabricated huts with little protection from the extremes of temperature or the rockets from Hamas in Gaza, was announced to strong applause from the audience.

The Israeli ambassador, Daniel Taub, gave thanks to the JNF’s chief executive David Goodman and Samuel Hayek in a speech congratulating the JNF on its 110 years of work, and – referring to Diaspora’s support for Israel through the JNF – stated, “Israel belongs to every one of us…Thank you to Samuel Hayek, who has so passionately steered the JNF from a rocky period to a position where it is playing a really central role in the community’s contributions to Israel”