Whereas one of the central strategic goals of the Jewish Agency is to promote the development of the Negev and the Galilee in accordance with the fulfillment of its public objectives;

And whereas  the Jewish Agency, in its strategic plan, affirmed the importance of mobilizing donors and entrepreneurs in Israel and abroad for the creation of key partnerships for fulfilling its public objectives;

And whereas   in the context of these objectives, the Jewish Agency is examining joint activity with two groups of entrepreneurs, businessmen and public figures from Israel and abroad – one for the Negev, and one for the Galilee, who are interested in investing their time and resources in furthering the development of the Negev and Galilee in the context of the public objectives of the Jewish Agency;

And whereas   the Jewish Agency intends to set up, with each of these groups, a not-for-profit company in such a way that each party will have equal rights (50% Jewish Agency and 50% the group of entrepreneurs, leaving open the possibility of gradual dilution of the holdings of the Jewish Agency in the company up to 25.1% of its holdings vis-à-vis the holdings of the entrepreneurs in the project);

And whereas   in parallel to setting up the companies, agreements between the entrepreneurs and the Jewish Agency will be signed which will systematize, inter alia, the commitments of the parties regarding financing the annual budget of the companies between the years 2005-2009 (5 years);

And whereas    according to the agreements, the Jewish Agency is required to approve a multi-year budget in accordance with the By-Laws of the Jewish Agency;

And whereas   the Jewish Agency, by means of the Israel Department, with the assistance of the Unit for Resource Development and Public Relations, will strive to mobilize the budgets necessary for financing the multi-year commitments as earmarked contributions;

Be it therefore resolved

1. Subject to the signing of the partnership agreement with each of the groups of entrepreneurs, two multi-year budgets are approved for the participation of the Jewish Agency in the activity of two companies, “Daroma” – for the development of the Negev, and “Zafona” – for the development of the Galilee, and all in accordance with the public objectives of the Jewish Agency, according to the following sums (in $million):

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
“Daroma” 1.25 1 1 1 1
“Zafona” 1 1 1 1 1

2. The Finance Department is authorized to incur financial obligations for the fulfillment of the Jewish Agency’s commitments in accordance with the agreements to be made with each of the groups of entrepreneurs, subject to the provisions of the By-Laws of the Jewish Agency with respect to multi-year undertakings .
3. If, in a certain budgetary year, the Jewish Agency’s portion of the two companies’ budget is not fully mobilized through earmarked contributions, the sum which was not mobilized through earmarked contributions will be paid from the core budget of the Israel Department of that budgetary year.

Explanatory Notes

“Daroma” Company

The intention of the Jewish Agency is to connect with a group of entrepreneurs which has been operating for some time on behalf of the Negev. This group includes donors from Israel and abroad and includes, Mr. Eitan Wertheimer, a leading Israeli businessman, and Mr. David Mirage.  This group has been active through a not-for-profit company they established, one of whose purposes is preparing the national strategic development plan for the Negev.  This group has been handling the following matters for the Prime-Minister's Office:

1.  Central efforts, including consolidation of a national long-term development plan for the Negev.
2.  Coordinating among the relevant professional bodies involved in preparing this plan.
3.  Integrating the various sectoral plans into an overall national strategic plan.
4.  Presenting recommendations for the implementation of key projects and assistance in their advancement.

The Jewish Agency will become involved in the framework of the existing company or, together with the group of entrepreneurs, set up a new joint company for carrying out these objectives.  For this purpose, the joint company will carry out the work of the existing company in all matters concerning contacts with the State on steering the project, subject to changes needed for the adaptation of the aims of the project to the public objectives of the Jewish Agency.

It should be emphasized that the joint company will not carry out business projects and will attempt to fulfill the public objectives of the Jewish Agency.

In order to remove all doubt, the company will not carry out projects directly.

Each party (the Jewish Agency on the one hand and the entrepreneurs on the other) will have equal rights (50% Jewish Agency and 50% the group of entrepreneurs, leaving open the possibility of dilution in stages of the holdings of the Jewish Agency in the company up to 25.1% of its holdings vis-à-vis the holding of the entrepreneurs in the project).

"Zafona" Company

A plan to establish a similar company to promote development of the Galilee is in its early stages.
A new company will be set up with a group of entrepreneurs, such as Eitan Wertheimer, and with existing groups, such as the Galilee Development Corporation.  Similar to the “Daroma” company, each side (the Jewish Agency on the one hand and the group of entrepreneurs on the other) will have equal rights in the company.

Multi-Year Commitments

It should be noted that the Jewish Agency’s involvement in these companies entails multi-year budgetary commitments.

The overall budget of the “Daroma” company for 2005 for the year 2005 will be up to $2.5 million and of the “Zafona” company for 2005 up to $2 million.  In the four subsequent years, the annual overall budget of each of the companies will be up to $2 million.  Each year, each of the parties (the Jewish Agency on the one hand and the entrepreneurs on the other) will invest half of the annual budget.

If the partners in each company wish to invest higher sums than those mentioned above for the purpose of advancing the goals of the company, the Jewish Agency may make up its part beyond this sum, or alternatively, allow a concomitant dilution of its holdings in the company.  Either way, the procedure of increasing the investments of the parties cannot take place during the year 2005.