The Negev desert in Israel. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Speaking at a media tour of the Negev and the Arava, Jewish National Fund (JNF) Chairman Efi Stenzler said Sunday that the organization plans to invest more than NIS 1 billion ($285 million) in the development of the Negev and the Galilee regions in the coming years, with the aim of creating a higher quality of life in both regions.

“The JNF has made a strategic decision to reduce the gaps between the periphery and central Israel, the Negev and the Galilee,” Stenzler said, according to Israel Hayom.

“We’re tenaciously pursuing the new Zionism, meaning settling the Negev, through vast and unprecedented investments in the area. The JNF, as a green Zionist organization, has chosen the geographic and social periphery as Israel’s future growth district,” he added.