President of KKL-JNF Finland, Ms. Ethel Salutskij, organized an event called “The Great Israel Event”, which took place on November 2nd, the anniversary of the occasion of the Balfour Declaration, at the Tapiola Hall in Espoo, Finland.
The event was attended by over 300 people, including the Finnish Minister of the Interior Ms. Päivi Räsänen, Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Israel Friendship Group in the Parliament Mr. Jouko Jääskeläinen, Executive Director of the Finnish Branch of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) Mr. Kari O. Niemi, Mr. Antero Laukkanen, Pastor and member of the City Council of Espoo, other members of the Espoo City Council, and the Israeli Ambassador to Finland, Mr. Dan Ashbel. Head Reverend Mr. Seppo Seppälä, a great friend of Israel who is also the director general of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, emceed the evening.
KKL-JNF’s Anat Gold described KKL-JNF achievements in the fields of water, the environment and land, putting especial emphasis on the Negev. She also described how KKL-JNF takes dry streambeds and turns them into urban parks that create “green belts” around the cities. Two short movies – that were produced by Ahuva Bar-Lev, director of the KKL-JNF Liaison, Information & Internet Department – one on Beersheba River Park and the other on KKL-JNF activities in general, drew an enthusiastic response from the audience.