The biggest push for Jewish fund raising in the United States, says Russell F. Robinson, CEO of the Jewish National Fund (JNF), is the “Big Z” – Zionism.

Robinson, who arrived this week with the latest aliyah flight of Nefesh B’Nefesh, told Arutz Sheva that he is here “almost every month, working on vision.”

But vision involves many different facets, Robinson said, and in that vision “we have 500,000 people to move the Negev," adding, "we’ve been working for 12 years.”

A man with seemingly endless energy, Robinson said JNF has already made a difference in southern Israel’s largest city, Be’er Sheva, “from a town of 193,000 to a town of 215,000 – it’s the fastest-growing city in Israel today.” 

The organization is also creating a medical center in the Arava, he added. “All of it is about making the Negev part of Israel,” he said.

“I say Zionism with a big ‘Z’ he smiled. “We have the largest Zionist Israel activist program in the United States. We touch 35,000 children from kindergarten through high school.. We believe in Zionism.

“That’s the big momentum.”