KKL-JNF holds a well-attended panel discussion on young people choosing to live in Israel’s peripheral regions.
At the 2018 Sderot Conference for Society, which took place on March 6 at Sapir College, KKL-JNF officials led a special panel on the topic of young people moving to the peripheral regions. Participating in the session were directors of organizations for promoting communities in peripheral regions and about 400 students of pre-military academies and National Service programs, along with university students and high school pupils.
KKL-JNF
Education Division staff, together with KKL-JNF Public Relations professionals, set up a tent for youth at the Sapir College in Sha’ar Hanegev, where KKL-JNF held a panel on the topic of settling and realizing visions in peripheral regions over the next decade, in order to encourage young people to live in the
Negev and the
Galilee.
Participating in the panel were
Uzi Dayan, the President of the Conference, KKL-JNF World Chairman
Danny Atar, Knesset Member
Amir Peretz, and the heads of organizations for encouraging settlement in peripheral regions, including people from the Ohr Movement. Students from pre-military academies and National Service volunteers from all over Israel, along with university and high school students, attended the conference and asked panel members questions relating to the future of the south, career development and building new communities in the Negev.
When he was asked by a student in the audience about opportunities for employment in the south, KKL-JNF World Chairman Danny Atar answered that “tomorrow, a meeting is planned with the Minister of the Economy to promote a new industrial park in the south that will cover an area of 750 acres. At KKL-JNF, we have committed ourselves to building development centers in Israel’s periphery, and I hope that this will encourage engineers, scientists, doctoral students and college and university graduates to live and work in the Negev.”
Regarding KKL-JNF’s work in the south, Atar said: “KKL-JNF has been accompanying the Jewish people in the State of Israel for over a century. We could talk about all of KKL-JNF’s many projects in every corner of the land of Israel, but I chose to speak to you today about the future. You, as young people who have chosen to volunteer, are the future of the State of Israel. KKL-JNF is prepared to give you the very best tools in order to realize our ultimate goal – over one million new residents in the Negev and a half a million new residents in the north. In past years, we have been witness to young people leaving our southern cities. You, with our help, will catalyze a change in this trend through pioneer spirit, Zionism and love of the land of Israel.”
MK Amir Peretz related in his remarks to the importance of the environment and KKL-JNF’s work in developing
forests and protecting the
parks: “As the former Minister for Environmental Protection, I believe that whoever harms nature will be harmed by nature in return. Anyone who has social consciousness should also have environmental awareness, because they go together. For this reason, I am grateful for KKL-JNF’s work throughout the country, and hope that they continue their work in the peripheral regions.”
The Sderot Conference for Society was founded in 2003 by General (ret.) Uzi Dayan and the Sapir Academic College, and since then has become the central stage for a public and academic dialogue on society and economics in Israel. The conference, which takes place at Sapir College in the city of Sderot, attracts thousands of participants each year, who come for an unmediated encounter with Israel’s political, academic, social and economic leadership. Additional participants include public officials, directors of municipal authorities, Knesset committees, social activists, government ministries and companies, cultural and artistic professionals, policy makers, media people, economic experts and outstanding businesspeople.
The conference focuses on socio-economic issues together with matters related to national security, along with emphasizing equal rights for Israel’s peripheral regions.