KKL-JNF Funds Wildfire Gear for 94 Forest Towns

KKL-JNF approved a NIS 13 million program to equip 94 forest-adjacent communities in central Israel with rapid wildfire response gear. The Shield for the Forest initiative will fund local authorities before Israel Fire and Rescue Services arrive, with 73 communities eligible for NIS 150,000 each and 21 for NIS 100,000. The central region spans about 440,000 dunams of planted forest from Yokneam and Zichron Yaakov to Beit Guvrin. This is section-level infrastructure and civil-resilience news: protecting homes, forests and local first responders is practical Zionism in a hotter, more dangerous season.