Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) participated on Tuesday evening in a conference at the International Convention Center.
The conference was titled "The effects of religious seed groups on Israeli society."
A "seed group" is a group of families - usually Religious Zionists - who come to a city to develop a religious community. They integrate into the city's population, build religious schools, and often make poorer neighborhoods safer.
Participating in the event were hundreds of members of seed groups managed by the "Shaalim" organization, as well as Environmental Protection Minister Zeev Elkin, Efrat Regional Council Head Oded Revivi, Shaalim Founder Rabbi Rahamim Nisimi, and Pais CEO Uzi Dayan.
"You cannot imagine how much these seed groups contribute - from the seed groups of 'Hashomer Hatzair' to the 'Torah' seed groups, their contribution to the city is much greater than the city's investment in them," Ariel said.
"Mayors are chasing us to bring seed groups to their cities because of huge contribution they make. The State of Israel needs to understand the scale of these projects, and the difficulties they face. We are working to enlarge the budget for these seed groups, and we want to include them in the government's annual budget."