Established by the World Zionist Organization (WZO) in 1929 as a partnership between the WZO and non-Zionist Jewish leaders and in accordance with the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine (1922) that called for “a Jewish agency”  to assist in the "establishment of the Jewish National Home . . . in Palestine." Prior to the establishment of Israel in 1948, the Jewish Agency facilitated the settlement of Jews in Palestine and focused on building strong economic, social and military foundations for the Jewish population. Once Israel became a state, the Agency continued to settle Jews from around the world in Israel and simultaneously built up cultural and economic infrastructure to support such settlement. Today, the organization operates in close to 80 countries. See the Jewish Agency’s website at http://www.jafi.org.il/.  http://www.justvision.org/glossary/jewish-agency