Nine years after the founding of Keren Hayesod, the executing arm of the Zionist movement was established – the Jewish Agency for Israel. While Keren Hayesod was responsible for raising funds and channeling them in the most appropriate way to different executing entities, the World Zionist Organization saw the need to establish an executing agency in the field to implement and move forward both small and large projects. The work of Keren Hayesod and the Jewish Agency for Israel is intertwined and the active partnership between the two is mutually beneficial. The two organizations have collaborated on many projects. They played a key role in establishing the State of Israel in 1948 and continue to strengthen it. The Jewish Agency for Israel works mainly in the fields of immigration and absorption; it has absorbed more than 3 million immigrants and established over 450 cities and towns throughout the country. The Jewish Agency for Israel advances educational, social welfare and community projects and, together with Keren Hayesod, brings the Jews of Israel and the Diaspora closer together.