On his second day on the job, Eyal Ostrinsky — the newly named chair of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund — was on the road, heading to Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the hardest-hit communities in the Oct. 7 terror attacks.

“KKL has invested heavily in the redevelopment projects in the kibbutz — NIS 75 million ($23.4 million). And I want to put that at the top of our list of priorities. So I am going there to see that we are implementing the plan and to hear from them, from the management, from the [residents], what else they want to do,” Ostrinksy told eJewishPhilanthropy on Monday afternoon.

Ostrinsky, who succeeds Ifat Ovadia-Luski, was voted into his position last Thursday by the KKL-JNF board as part of a coalition agreement that was reached in November between the center-left and center-right factions of the World Zionist Congress. Under the deal, the two sides will split the leadership of the World Zionist Organization and KKL-JNF over the next five years. For the first half of the term, Likud’s Yaakov Hagoel will serve as chair of the WZO, followed by an as-yet-unnamed representative of the center-left bloc. And Ostrinsky, who got his start in Labor Party politics, will represent the center-left as chair of KKL-JNF, before handing the reins over to an as-yet-unnamed Likud official.

Ostrinsky, who until recently served as chief of staff to WZO Vice Chair Yizhar Hess, enters his new role at a pivotal time for KKL-JNF, which owns more than 10% of the land of Israel, making it one of the most influential organizations in the country as it relates to land development and real estate. The organization has, for decades, faced allegations of corruption and cronyism, as well as calls for its land holdings and substantial revenues to be nationalized. (Ostrinsky is not worried about the latter threats, despite calls for it by the largest opposition party, Yesh Atid Party, saying, “I am certain that it’s not going to happen. They don’t have the political support for it.”) Most recently, KKL-JNF was swept up in a massive national corruption probe that came to light in November, involving top officials at a variety of Israeli labor unions, municipalities and public companies.

As he enters his shortened term, Ostrinsky said that he is looking to get the organization “back on the right track” and improve its reputation, as well as its relationship with Diaspora Jewry, by focusing on the group’s core values. These include reforestation, rebuilding the hard-hit communities of southern and northern Israel, agricultural infrastructure, funding educational programs and — to a lesser extent — supporting Jewish communities abroad.

“If we do our best to stay focused on our core areas, we would limit the influence [of politics],” he said.

One of Ostrinsky’s most important tasks will be to appoint a new CEO for the organization, which has been without a permanent chief executive for the past 2 1/2 years and without an interim CEO for the past two months. Ostrinsky stressed that this is not a political appointment and that the CEO will need the approval of the board, which includes representatives from right-wing parties. He said there are already dozens of applicants for the role, and he is looking for a CEO with a strong background in public administration, such as a former director-general of a government ministry or a municipality. 

Ostrinsky told eJP that he believes that a strong CEO will set the tone for the organization and will “limit the influence of politics in appointments for senior and mid-level management positions.” 

A source of political influence that Ostrinsky said he is particularly looking to curb is Israel Goldshtein, the chair of KKL-JNF’s labor union, who is also a Likud Party activist. Yet Ostrinsky stressed, “I don’t think we should do anything to harm the rights and privileges of KKL workers because they are very good, very committed, very professional individuals, and they do very hard work for our cause.”

One of Ostrinsky’s first tasks in his new role will be to pass a budget. KKL-JNF entered 2026 without an annual budget. Until a new budget is passed, it will operate on a prorated month-to-month basis, relying on the previous year’s budget. “I told the board that we would pass a budget within 45-60 days,” Ostrinsky said. 

Within that budget, Ostrinsky plans to include an increase in funding, between NIS 4 million-5 million ($1.3 million-$1.6 million) for combating antisemitism and improving Jewish community safety and resilience, primarily through the Jewish Agency’s JReady program. He also wants to maintain KKL-JNF’s NIS 60 million ($19 million) support for educational programs in Israel and around the world. KKL-JNF, which pledged $220 million for rehabilitation efforts in northern and southern Israel in August, will continue this work and will strive to develop the local economies in these farther-flung parts of the country by supporting young people in these areas through youth villages and by “investing in technological excellence” there, Ostrinsky said. 

But the main focus of the budget will be on reforestation and land development. “We want to heavily invest in forestation,” he said. “Within the parts of the land that we designate for forestation, we want to plant as many trees as we possibly can. I want to implement this as a policy, as a target, because deforestation efforts are very, very important — first, as part of the battle against climate change, and second, as this is the identity of KKL. Planting trees is the identity of KKL to the Jewish public and the Israeli public.”

Speaking to eJP, Ostrinsky highlighted the importance of KKL-JNF’s relationship with Diaspora Jews. As chief of staff to Hess, who leads the Masorti Olami faction, Ostrinsky has worked closely with the Conservative and Reform movements in Israel and around the world. (In a statement hailing Ostrinsky’s appointment as KKL-JNF chair, Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, CEO of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, noted the “ strong personal relationships I know he has formed with Jewish leaders around the world.”)

Ostrinsky acknowledged that KKL-JNF has not invested in its partnerships with other philanthropic foundations and other organizations in recent years, including the network of Jewish National Funds around the world — some of this stemming from the group’s reputational problems. Though it is not a top priority to start, improving donor relations and partnerships will be a focus going forward, he said.

“KKL needs to work much better with the JNFs and with the philanthropy that works in the field,” Ostrinsky said. “KKL has its missions, but we can and must do it more attractively. [We need to look,] ‘Who is interested in forestation? In water projects?’ And then partner with them. That wasn’t a focus in recent years. We have to rebuild that.”