President-elect Donald Trump reportedly contributed money to help create new communities in Israel for evacuees of former Israeli settlements in the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip.
Due to the high cost of evacuating the former Gush Katif community in Gaza, the Israeli government reportedly sought assistance from Jewish organizations such as the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and other groups. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, which is now ruled by the Palestinian terror group Hamas.
“We issued an appeal to all Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL) and JNF offices worldwide,” said Effie Stenzler, former chairman of the JNF, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday.
“KKL-USA sought donations in the U.S. and one of them was sought from Trump, who is considered to be an avowed supporter of Israel, and he donated money toward the establishment of infrastructure in new communities” Stenzler added.
Further, Trump donated towards helping Jewish evacuees from the Sinai Peninsula in the early 1980s, when Israel pulled out of the region as a result of the peace treaty it signed with Egypt in 1979.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Trump’s name appears on a plaque honoring the donors in the Hevel Shalom region, which absorbed evacuees from the Sinai and Gaza. While the exact figure of Trump’s donation for settlement evacuees is not cited, it is estimated to amount to millions of Israeli shekels.