1920. The San Remo international conference endorses the British Mandate for Palestine. The Jewish Yishuv in Eretz Israel is in crisis and loses half its residents. Huge sums of money are needed to bring hundreds of thousands of Jews from around the world to settle the land, establish towns and neighborhoods and pave roads. One thing is clear: there is an urgent need for change, along with an immediate solution to raise enormous resources. Committees meet again and again, and are unable to make any decision. There is a deadlock.
Isaac Asher Naiditch, a Jewish merchant, publishes a proposal in March 1920 to set up “a foundation fund” to collect contributions from Jews around the world to support and finance the Zionist enterprise. Many people oppose the idea, maintaining that it is outdated and irrelevant, but Naiditch continues to promote his vision. He speaks at the Zionist Congress in London in July 1920, and says: “The Foundation Fund [Keren Hayesod] must give us the ability not only to start the work – but also to finish it. This is a time of responsibility for our people, and a time of trial. It is incumbent upon you to prepare our people to emerge from this trial with a victor’s wreath on our heads”. The proposal was passed by a large majority. So many hands were raised that there was no need to count the votes. Enthusiasm ran high. Finally, a solution had been found. Keren Hayesod could be the device for managing the money designated to build the Jewish home in the Land of Israel.