The Negev Foundation is a Cleveland-based, non-profit, tax-exempt foundation. We promote initiatives contributing to the agricultural and general economic self-sufficiency of Israel’s southern region, the Negev, a region comprising some 60% of the land in Israel. David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, emphasized as early as the 1950s that Israel’s future depended on the development of this desert land. The Foundation encourages the replacement of external philanthropic support for the region with revenue from locally generated agriculture, technology, and entrepreneurship. To this end, The Negev Foundation unites farmers, commercial growers, business incubators, academic institutions, investors, and donors. These parties share their expertise to promote not only the commercial viability of the region, but its cultural development and community-building efforts as well.