HOLLYWOOD, FL, October 26, 2025 — Mayors from Israel’s North and South shared powerful stories of resilience, courage, and renewal at Jewish National Fund-USA’s Global Conference for Israel. The session, titled “Reimagining and Rebuilding Stronger—A Conversation with Israeli Mayors,” was moderated by Jewish National Fund-USA Chief Israel Officer Talia Tzour Avner. The conversation centered around the mayors’ leadership before, during, and after the October 7 attacks, as well as their hopes for the future of their communities.
Ori Kelner, head of the Golan Regional Council, recalled the importance of collaboration during his military service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the wake of the attacks. “A big part of [being mayor] is unifying everyone; it gives hope and it gives strength…when I was in Kfar Aza and I saw the consequences of not being unified, I promised myself that I would dedicate my life to unifying my community.”
Michal Uziyahu, who leads the Eshkol region in Israel’s South, was canvassing for her mayoral campaign when she learned that her son’s friend had been taken hostage. From the beginning, her initiative was to move forward. “This is what it is. We need to survive. We are going to survive. This is what I tell myself and my community every day.” Despite being one of the hardest-hit communities in Israel, 90% of the population in Eshkol has returned to the area, with new families joining. According to Uziyahu, “When you have hope and when you are strong and when you don’t victimize yourself, other people want to join.”
Jewish National Fund-USA's vision is to attract 800,000 new residents to Israel’s North and South. With facilities like day care and medical centers that meet the needs of the population, families can feel comfortable knowing that all their needs will be met. “The value that these projects hold is immense for the region in the days after the war,” said Asaf Langlebin, mayor of Kiryat Shmona in the Upper Galilee. “They give people hope—hope to see and build something new.”
Alon Davidi, mayor of the town of Sderot and chair of the Western Negev Cluster, has seen 700 new families move to the region as a result of Jewish National Fund-USA’s new housing initiatives. Davidi currently oversees a population of 40,000 and hopes to grow the area to 75,000 people by 2030: “Jewish National Fund-USA worked hard to get the exact projects that the city needed in order to become bigger, better, and stronger.”
Each of the mayors shared their hopes and vision for a brighter future, both for their longtime residents and for the growing number of newcomers moving to the region thanks to Jewish National Fund-USA's philanthropic investments. The mayors also shared their appreciation for the collaborative partnership between their municipalities and Jewish National Fund-USA to empower their communities and get the resources they need to feel safe and thrive. “It’s an opportunity for us to write our story,” Uziyahu remarked.
Taking place from October 23-26, the Global Conference for Israel features thought leaders and Zionist changemakers, including Douglas Murray, Erin Molan, Rep. Ritchie Torres, Ambassador Ido Aharoni Aronoff, and Omer Shem Tov.
###
