A financial organization founded by the World Zionist movement in 1920, with the aim of raising the funds necessary to establish a “national homeland” for the Jews in Palestine. It played a pivotal role in financing Jewish immigration to Palestine and developing the infrastructure of the settlements, thus contributing to laying the foundations for the declaration of the establishment of Israel in 1948.
The organization continued its activity after the declaration of the establishment of Israel, and in 1957 the Israeli Parliament (the Knesset) officially recognized it as a fund-raising body for the state, and thus it became an international entity that finances settlement and encourages the migration of Jews to the Palestinian territories.
Foundation project
The international Zionist movement focused its efforts on collecting the necessary funding to establish a national homeland for the Jews and establish a state for them, which prompted it to assign an elite group of Jewish economists around the world to establish a financial entity that would collect the required resources, in parallel with the Jewish National Fund, which was established in 1901 to finance land purchases in Palestine.
In July 1920, the World Zionist Congress was held in London, placing at the top of its agenda the mobilization of the necessary financial resources to develop the settlement project in Palestine, in addition to establishing a central financial institution that would effectively contribute to establishing the national homeland for the Jews, based on the promise of the British Foreign Secretary at the time, James Arthur Balfour.
The conference agreed to establish a financial organization bearing the name “Foundation Fund – Unified Taxation for Israel,” known for short as (Keren Hayesod), so that it would be a central, non-profit organization, with the participation of Jews in various parts of the world, and its resources would be allocated exclusively to serve the goal of establishing a national home for the Jews in Palestine.
The conference also approved the imposition of annual financial contributions that amount to a “mandatory tax” on every Jew wherever he is, and the Foundation was tasked with collecting 25 million pounds sterling within one year, as the amount necessary to establish this project.
The conference concluded its work by issuing a global appeal to members of the Zionist Organization and all Jews to “fulfill their duty towards their national homeland” by supporting the Fund and financing its projects.
The Zionist Organization divided the financial resources raised through Keren Hayesod into three main components:
- A third is allocated to public services for Jews in Palestine, including education, health, and housing.
- A third is directed to support agricultural settlement projects.
- One third is allocated to developing industrial and economic activities.
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After the declaration of the establishment of Israel in 1948, the Zionist financial institutions were unified under the name “Unified Collection of Israel,” while the Zionist Congress in 1951 set the mission of “Keren Hayesod” to collect funding from outside Israel, to later be registered as an official Israeli financial entity.
On January 10, 1956, the Knesset passed the “Keren Hayesod” law, granting the organization legal status as an official institution charged with collecting donations for Israel under the name “Keren Hayesod – The United Fund for Israel.”
Since then, the organization has continued to hold international conferences to mobilize donations and implement large-scale projects that supported settlement and encouraged Jewish immigration to Israel.
Founding statement
The organization issued its first statement on September 24, 1920, sending an explicit call to Jews around the world to provide the necessary funding to establish a national home for them in Palestine.
The statement stressed that the British mandate over Palestine represents a “historic opportunity” that should be used to achieve this goal, and to ensure that the message reaches the widest possible range, the statement was published in several languages, including English, Hebrew, Yiddish, French, and German.
The Zionist Organization also sought to unite the various Jewish currents around supporting the Fund as the comprehensive fund for the “Jewish nation.”
Self tax
Those in charge of the fund sought to link its activity to some ancient Jewish traditions, so they proposed what was known as the “self-tax,” inspired by the principle of the “old tithe” known in Jewish culture, which is based on paying a tenth of the annual income.
Based on this proposal, the World Zionist Organization adopted the idea, with the aim of motivating all Jews, rich and poor, to contribute to financing the fund, as a support for the Jewish religion.
The organization classified the principle of self-taxation into several basic principles:
- Imposing a 10% tax on the property of wealthy Jews.
- Taking into account the economic and social conditions of each country when determining the value of the tax.
- Unifying the application of the tax to include all Jews equally.
- Determine the acceptable minimum amount for paying the tax, which was then no less than one British pound per person.
Despite adopting these principles, the Fund later failed to implement the idea effectively, so it prepared to organize direct fundraising campaigns and send letters to prominent Jews urging them to contribute.
The organization’s employees also organized tours between cities and capitals where Jewish communities are concentrated, to ensure that the largest possible amount of funds is collected.
Structural
The organization consists of several departments and sections, each of which has specific and clear tasks, which are as follows:
- Board of Directors: Appointed by the World Zionist Movement and the Jewish Agency, he is charged with organizing and arranging the organization’s affairs and making strategic decisions.
- Board of Trustees: It includes 8 members, who are entrusted with the tasks of financial oversight of the Fund’s funds and following up on the progress of various projects.
- Economic Council: It consists of Jewish businessmen and financial, industrial and commercial experts, and specializes in investing and directing funds to support the interests of the Jewish community.
- “Next Generation” section: It was established in 1971 with the aim of building a young generation capable of supporting the organization and ensuring its continuity. This department was active in various countries of the world.
- Publicity and Media Department: It is concerned with the organization’s media communication and promotional activities.
- Youth Affairs Department: Focuses on youth programs and activities to ensure their participation and interaction with the organization’s goals.
Objectives
The Keren Hayesod organization has set a number of goals to achieve, the most prominent of which are:
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- Increased Jewish immigration to Palestine.
- Develop and improve Jewish settlement.
- Buying and reclaiming lands for the benefit of the Jews.
- Establishing and developing infrastructure, including constructing roads, building railways, ports, and bridges, and exploiting water resources to serve Jewish interests.
- Developing cities and developing industry and handicrafts to meet the needs of the Jewish population.
- Building housing to settle Jews in Palestine.
- Providing soft loans and financial support to help Jewish immigrants settle and integrate.
- Training younger generations in agriculture and raising livestock and poultry.
- Employing Jewish workers in various fields to support the Jewish economy in Palestine.
Legal registration of the organization
The organization was officially registered in the Register of Commercial and Financial Companies in the United Kingdom on March 23, 1921, as a joint-stock company limited by guarantee, without capital or shares, under the name “Palestine Establishment Fund,” and was known in Hebrew as “Keren Hayesod Limited.”
The law regulating its work clarifies that the organization is a legally independent entity, not affiliated with the World Zionist Movement or any other body, which gave it the ability to manage its financial and administrative affairs independently in accordance with its own objectives.
Headquarters
The organization established its headquarters in London, and in 1926 it moved it to the city of Jerusalem. The task of supervising the headquarters in Palestine was entrusted to the “Jewish Yishuv” (a Hebrew word meaning settlement or residence, and it refers to the Jewish groups that settle in Palestine for religious purposes), and the headquarters is managed through the Council of the National Zionist Committee (Fad Leumi).
This department worked to ensure the participation of all Jews in Palestine in supporting the organization’s activities, and to organize volunteers to collect funds within Jewish settlements and gatherings.
Later, the organization expanded and established branches in about 45 countries, the most prominent of which was the United States of America branch, given the pivotal role played by the Jews there in supporting the establishment of a national homeland for them in Palestine. This American Jewish branch was founded by Louis Lipsky, while Samuel Untermeyer was chosen as its president, and Emmanuel Newman was appointed general director.
American Jews had a prominent financial role, as they contributed about 66% of the organization’s revenues between 1921 and 1948, compared to only about 14% of European Jews.
The European Branch, which is headquartered in Berlin, also played an important role in organizing propaganda for the organization’s activities and following up on its tasks, and its management was entrusted to the Jew Arthur Hantke until 1926.
Organization projects and activities
The organization allocated the funds it collected (about $140 million before 1948 and $1.62 billion after the declaration of the establishment of Israel) to support basic institutions, including the Histadrut and the Jewish Agency, in an effort to consolidate the Zionist presence in Palestine.
These investments enabled the Zionist movement to implement large-scale settlement projects, which directly contributed to strengthening the presence of Jews in Palestine.
In the period from 1921 to 1946, the organization allocated about 18% of its budget to support Jewish immigration to Palestine, while the remaining percentage went to purchasing land and establishing Zionist institutions.
In the 1930s and 1940s, the Fund contributed to helping Jews fleeing Nazi Germany immigrate to Palestine. He also established about 203 agricultural settlements that extended over an area of 661 thousand dunums (a dunum is equivalent to a thousand square metres), and were inhabited by about 77 thousand Jews.
Between 1947 and 1948, more than a third of the Fund’s budget was allocated to purchasing weapons and providing support for and fortifying Jewish settlements.
After the declaration of the establishment of Israel in May 1948, Keren Hayesod focused on the following:
- Financing the absorption of waves of Jewish immigration to historic Palestine.
- Supporting settlement expansion.
- Collecting donations for the Israeli army.
- Rehabilitating dozens of poor Israeli neighborhoods.
- Establishing various educational and cultural projects.
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Israeli estimates indicated that the organization has contributed since 1948 to bringing about 3 million immigrants to Israel, in addition to establishing about 500 settlements and rehabilitating about 100 poor neighborhoods through the “neighborhood rehabilitation” project.
It also funded more than 1,400 social and educational projects, and provided financial grants to support construction and renovation, serving fragile communities, caring for low-income youth, and strengthening communication between Israeli Jews and Jewish communities abroad.
The organization had a pivotal role in establishing a number of institutions that formed the infrastructure for the establishment and development of Israel, most notably:
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
- The airline “Aviron” (which later became El Al).
- Israeli Electricity Company.
- Dead Sea Business Company.
- Bank Leumi.
- Bezalel School of Arts.
- Mekorot Water Company.
- Development of Tel Aviv Port.
- Navigation company “Tsim”.
Al-Aqsa flood
The Keren Hayesod organization was significantly active during the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, which was launched by the Palestinian resistance factions on the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.
In May 2025, the Israeli newspaper “Maariv” revealed that the organization had collected about one billion shekels from Jewish donors around the world, and allocated this money to projects to rehabilitate Israelis injured during the war, support the families of the dead, and rehabilitate the damaged infrastructure, in addition to psychological support programs and strengthening the capabilities of hospitals.
It also organized a visit for 130 donors from Australia and Mexico to Israel, and the participants met with the families of the dead and toured the southern and northern regions, to see the effects of the war.
In October 2025, the Swedish website “Proletarin” revealed that the organization had collected money for the Israeli occupation army, through campaigns in cooperation with local organizations that define themselves as the “Charitable Organization for the Israeli Army.”
The website indicated that the Swedish branch of the organization, “Israel Ensamlingen”, contributed to recruiting soldiers to join the occupation army, and funded psychological treatment centers for its soldiers.
The organization also collected donations to purchase medical equipment such as first aid kits, tourniquets, and ear protection devices, directed directly to support the army.
Against the backdrop of these activities, the Swedish police opened an official investigation, after submitting a report from the Palestinian activist Taha Khattab, a student at the University of Gothenburg, to verify the nature of these operations.
Source: Israeli press + Websites