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social action. As in the past, the Agency assists Jews in the diaspora to make Aliya, and it is enough to note that since its foundation, it was a key factor in bringing about 4 million Jews to Israel. At the agency's initiative, schools and summer camps operate throughout the diaspora, trips of Jewish youth to Israel are conducted and meetings are held between them and delegations from overseas with Israelis. Every year, the Jewish Agency's activities reach thousands of Jews – children, teenagers and adults – in many dozens of countries.
The Agency is also involved in rescuing Jews from danger zones. This has happened in recent years in Venezuela and from the conflict zones in eastern Ukraine. A large share of those families and individuals eventually make Aliya to Israel.
The following are some of the figures of the Jewish Agency's activities throughout the world towards the end of the second decade of the 21st century: 20 thousand young Jews from around the world visited Israel as part of "I Belong Israel"; About 1,800 Israeli envoys operate in two thousand Jewish communities on every continent; 150 thousand Jews in the world regularly participate in educational and cultural programs; more than 60 thousand children, teenagers and adults from Russian-speaking countries participate in their own dedicated programs. These social, cultural and national enterprises shall continue to be at the center of the Jewish Agency's work in the coming years as well. or details about the activities of the Jewish Agency during its tenth decade, see pages 302-309.
The World Zionist Organization
The World Zionist Organization (hereinafter: WZO), whose offices are located in the National Institutions Building, is the oldest of the National Institutions. Its beginnings were in 1897, when Binyamin Ze'ev Herzl established it in order to carry out the goals of Zionism, as defined by the First Zionist Congress: "establishing a publicly and legally assured home for the Jewish people ."
In accordance with the League of Nations Mandate, which was given to Britain in 1922, the WZO was recognized as "a Jewish agency" whose duty was to represent the global Jewish interest in the implementation of the Mandate. WZO and the Jewish Agency operated jointly for about forty years (from the early Thirties to the early Seventies). In 1971, with the reestablishment of the Jewish Agency, an independent status was established for the WZO. WZO holds 50% of the partnership in the Jewish Agency and thus has a key role in its work.
In its activities, WZO focuses upon ensuring the support of the diaspora Jews for Israel, in all the main issues on its agenda: Housing, absorption of new Olim, strengthening the settlement in the outlying areas and more. It dedicates many resources and efforts to strengthening and expanding Jewish education in the diaspora and encouraging Aliya to Israel. After the Six Day War, a Settlement Division for the Golan Heights and for Judea and Samaria, the Negev and the Galilee (and previously, for Sinai and the Gaza Strip) was established in WZO.
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