The funds will be used to strengthen communities in the north and in the Gaza border region, including Sderot and Ashkelon.

By Zeev Klein

The Jewish Agency for Israel will raise $300 million from diaspora Jewry to strengthen communities in the north and in the outer Gaza border region, including Sderot and Ashkelon. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Vice Premier and Minister for the Galilee and Negev regions Shimon Peres reached agreement on the fundraising drive in a meeting with Jewish Agency chairman Zeev Bielski, and chairman of the board of governors Carole Solomon.

Peres will spearhead the fundraising drive in the US and Europe. He said that he had been “surprised at the extent of the willingness and desire on the part of diaspora Jewry to come to the aid of Israel and residents in the north, following the second Lebanon war.”