JNF agrees to pay gov't NIS 1b

JNF
JNF

The funds will be used in 2015 for infrastructure and residential land development projects.

The Jewish National Fund (JNF) (Keren Kayemet Le'Israel) will allocate NIS 1 billion by the end of 2015 for infrastructure and residential land development projects. In return, a bill included in the 2015 budget proposal aimed against JNF will be withdrawn, it was agreed today at a meeting between the Ministries of Finance and Justice, and JNF representatives.

Ministry of Finance Budget Director Amir Levy and Deputy Budget Director with special responsibility for real estate Eran Nitzan, Deputy Attorney General Avi Licht, and the legal advisors from the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Finance represented the state at the meeting, and JNF CEO Meir Spiegler and Adv. Daniel Tavkov, the legal advisor of JNF chairman Efi Stentzler, represented JNF.

The Economic Arrangements bill promoted by the Finance Ministry would have obligated JNF to allocate at least 65% of its income from the Israel Land Administration to a development budget for promoting the availability of land for construction of housing units. The Finance Ministry explained that it had set this rate because it was the state's proper share of the fund's revenue, which it would have received had the usual taxes been levied on JNF.

A participant in the meeting said today that it had taken place, "in a positive atmosphere, based on agreements and understanding of the constraints applying to each of the parties." At the meeting, the state's representatives sought to apply the arrangement to the coming years also, but the JNF representatives explained that they were unable to make such an undertaking, given the fact that JNF's leadership would be up for election a year from now. Following the meeting, the Finance Ministry representatives announced they would postpone the legislative initiative until next year.

Under the arrangement, it was agreed that JNF would allocate money from its budget for projects according to a list prepared by a directors general committee. This refers mainly to hundreds of millions of shekels for sewage purification plants, infrastructure and land development work that JNF is already carrying out, land development for construction of residential neighborhoods, construction of water reservoirs and land development, planting, parks, and paving of bicycle paths.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 5, 2014

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014

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