The Jewish Agency for Israel

The International Jewish Agency for Israel or the Jewish Agency for Israel was founded after World War I (1914-1918). It was founded by the British government, which had dominated Palestinian territory after the war ended. The Jewish Agency for Israel was apparently served as a link between Palestinian Jews and the British government. Yet, when the World Zionist Organization joined the Jewish Agency for Israel in 1929, it became clear that bringing Jews from different parts of the world to Palestine is one of the main duties of the Agency. This led to the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine in 1948. After the announcement of the formation of Israel, David Ben-Gurion the head of the Jewish Agency for Israel became the Prime Minister, and he chose other ministers from among those who were affiliated with the Agency. During the rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Jewish Agency opened an office in Tehran. The office was located on Churchill Street, Neauphle-le-Château (formerly named France Street). The Jewish Agency’s activities in Iran were not limited to encouraging Jews to immigrate to occupied Palestine. Recognizing Israel and exporting Iranian oil to Israel were also among the Jewish Agency’s activities in both of which it succeeded. After the establishment of Israel, and since the Jews, compared to Muslims, made up a smaller percentage of the country’s population, the Jewish Agency moved 687,000 Jews from different countries to the occupied territories of Palestine thereby doubling the Jewish population.

The policy of increasing the Jewish population and changing the demographic composition in Palestine continued and gradually the Jews were sent to Palestine from Libya, Morocco, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Yemen, Iraq, the Kurdish Region, and Ethiopia. After the fall of the Soviet Union (1991), 720,000 Jews were moved from the Soviet Union to Israel. The Jewish Agency is still pursuing this policy. The Jewish Agency for Israel is funded by the United States and Jewish economic organizations.