Dalam dua dekad pertama negara itu, rakyat Israel mempunyai kebimbangan yang mendalam tentang terbongkarnya kebenaran mengenai Nakba 1948 serta kemungkinan 'mimpi ngeri' apabila pelarian Palestin kembali ke bandar dan kampung halaman mereka di wilayah yang kini menjadi Israel. Facing the Forests, salah satu karya besar pertama novelis A. B. Yehushua, diterbitkan pada tahun 1963. Novel itu dibuka dengan kemusnahan sebuah kampung Palestin pada tahun 1948 dan penanaman hutan JNF di atas runtuhannya.

In the first two decades of the state Israelis had a deep anxiety about the discovery of the truth about the 1948 Nakba and the ‘nightmarish’ prospect of Palestinian refugees returning to their towns and villages in what had become Israel. Facing the Forests, one of novelist A. B. Yehushua’s first major works, was published in 1963. It opens with the destruction of a Palestinian village in 1948 and the planting of a JNF forest on its ruins.

Novel ini menceritakan kisah seorang pelajar Israel yang "terobsesi" dengan sejarah Tentera Salib Latin. Pelajar itu, yang mencari rehat dan kesunyian, mendapat pekerjaan sebagai penjaga hutan. Apabila dia tiba di rumah pengawas di hutan JNF, dia mendapati seorang lelaki Arab yang lidahnya telah dipotong, serta anak perempuan lelaki itu. Tidak lama selepas kedatangannya, pelajar itu mula diganggu mimpi buruk dan sentiasa menjangka bencana akan berlaku. Apabila musim panas berlanjutan, pelajar itu mula berahi kepada anak perempuan lelaki tersebut. Ketegangan antara mereka berdua semakin meningkat, dan tiba-tiba lelaki itu membakar hutan, lalu seluruh hutan itu musnah. Pada waktu fajar, pelajar itu "mengalihkan pandangannya ke arah bukit-bukit yang berasap, lalu mengerutkan dahi. Di sana, dari sebalik asap dan kabus, kampung yang musnah itu muncul di hadapan matanya; dilahirkan semula, dalam garis-garis asasnya sebagai lukisan abstrak, seperti segala yang telah berlalu dan terkubur". Walaupun pelajar itu gagal melihat kebenaran yang didedahkan oleh penyelidikannya tentang Tentera Salib Latin, api itulah yang menyingkapkannya. Novel ini berakhir dengan kemusnahan hutan dan kemunculan semula kampung Arab itu (Yehoshua 1975: 385).

The novel recounts the story of an Israeli student who is ‘obsessed’ with the history of the Latin Crusaders. The student, looking for a break and solitude, finds a job as a forest ranger. When he arrives at the watch house in the JNF forest he finds an Arab man whose tongue had been cut out and the man’s daughter. Shortly after his arrival the student begins to suffer from nightmares and he is constantly anticipating a catastrophe. As the summer continues the student begins to desire the man’s daughter. The tension between the two escalates and suddenly the man sets fire to the forest and the whole forest burns down. At dawn the student ‘turns his gaze to the fire-smoking hills, frowns. There out of the smoke and haze, the ruined village appears before his eyes; born anew, in its basic outlines as an abstract drawing, as all things past and buried’. While the student fails to see the truths unearthed by his research on the Latin Crusades, the fire reveals it. The novel ends with the destruction of the forest and the re-emergence of the Arab village (Yehoshua 1975: 385).

Hutan-hutan JNF, seperti Taman Negara Carmel, menjadi ikon kebangkitan semula nasional Zionis di Israel dan dalam kesusasteraan Ibrani Israel, melambangkan kejayaan projek Zionis Eropah dalam 'menanamkan akar' di tanah air purba dan landskap suci. Kanak-kanak sering dinamakan sempena pokok, dan kesusasteraan kanak-kanak Ibrani menggambarkan pokok-pokok muda sebagai kanak-kanak (Zerubavel 1996). Nama-nama seperti Ilan (pokok), Oren (pokok pain), Tomer dan Tamar (jantina lelaki dan perempuan bagi pokok kurma), Amir (puncak pokok), atau Elon atau Allon (pokok oak) sangat lazim di Israel. Hutan semula jadi 'Oak Palestin' (بلوط فلسطين) meliputi banyak kawasan Palestin bersejarah, terutamanya di Galilee atas, Gunung Carmel, Gunung Tabor (bahasa Arab: Jabal al-Tur) dan kawasan berbukit lain. Sesetengah tradisi Muslim Palestin tempatan di Galilee malah telah mengaitkan kesucian dengan pokok oak purba. Pokok oak Palestin purba dan daunnya telah dilihat sebagai lambang kekuatan dan ketahanan bukan sahaja di Palestin tetapi di banyak negara di seluruh dunia. Tradisi penghormatan terhadap pokok oak Palestin dalam tradisi Eropah pra-Kristian dan Kristian zaman pertengahan adalah terkenal.

The JNF’s forests, such as the Carmel National Park, became an icon of Zionist national revival in Israel and in Israeli Hebrew literature, symbolising the success of the European Zionist project in ‘striking roots’ in the ancient homeland and sacred landscape. Children were often named after trees and children’s Hebrew literature described young trees as children (Zerubavel 1996). Names such as Ilan (tree), Oren (pine tree) Tomer and Tamar (male and female for palm tree), Amir (tree top), or Elon or Allon (oak tree) are very common in Israel. Natural woodlands of ‘Palestine Oak’ ( (بلوط فلسطين covered many areas of historic Palestine, especially in upper Galilee, Mount Carmel, Mount Tabor (Arabic: Jabal al-Tur) and other hilly regions. Some local Palestinian Muslim traditions in Galilee have even attributed holiness to ancient oak trees. The ancient Palestine Oak tree and its leaves have been seen as a symbol of strength and endurance not only in Palestine but in many countries across the world. European pre-Christian and medieval Christian traditions of veneration of Palestine Oak trees are well known.

Daun pokok oak juga secara tradisinya merupakan bahagian penting dalam pakaian kebesaran tentera Jerman, dan melambangkan pangkat dalam tentera Amerika Syarikat. Di Palestin purba, pokok ini mempunyai pemujaan tersendiri dalam mitologi tempatan, yang berasal daripada tradisi agama tempatan; ia dikaitkan dengan kehidupan dan dipercayai telah tumbuh sejak permulaan dunia (Niesiolowski-Spano 2011: 132–137).

The leaves of the oak were also traditionally an important part of German army regalia and symbolise ranks in the US army. In ancient Palestine, this tree had its own cult in local mythology, derived from local religious traditions; it is associated with life and is supposed to have grown since the beginning of the world (Niesiolowski-Spano 2011: 132–137).

Namun pemujaan terhadap hutan gaya Eropah milik JNF di Israel juga telah menjadi pusat kepada satu ingatan kolektif sekular Zionis yang direka. Sejarawan dan wartawan Israel Amos Elon, yang dilahirkan di Vienna sebagai Amos Sternbach dan berhijrah ke Palestin pada 1933, menukar namanya kepada Amos Oak. Dengan cara yang serupa, Jeneral Yigal Allon, komander Palmah pada 1948, dilahirkan sebagai Yigal Paicovitch dan menukar namanya kepada Allon, nama berbunyi Ibrani yang bermaksud pokok oak. Seperti yang telah kita lihat di atas, tradisi "hutan purba" dan pemujaan kayu ini berasal daripada tanggapan nasionalisme romantik Eropah Tengah. Pada 2004 Amos Elon berpindah ke Itali, dengan alasan kekecewaan terhadap perkembangan di Israel sejak 1967. Dalam The Israelis:

But the worship of the JNF (European-style) forests in Israel has also become central to an invented Zionist secular collective memory. Israeli historian and journalist Amos Elon, who was born in Vienna as Amos Sternbach and immigrated to Palestine in 1933, changed his name to Amos Oak. In similar vein, General Yigal Allon, commander of the Palmah in 1948, was born Yigal Paicovitch and changed his name to the Hebrewsounding Allon (oak tree). As we have seen above, this tradition of the ‘ancient woods’ and wood worship was derived from central European notions of romantic nationalism. In 2004 Amos Elon moved to Italy, citing disillusionment with developments in Israel since 1967. In The Israelis:

Founders and Sons, Elon menulis: '[S]edikit benda yang sangat simbolik dan menggambarkan impian serta rasional Zionis sebagaimana "Hutan Dana Negara Yahudi"' (Elon 1983: 200). Hutan bergaya Eropah dan dasar penghutanan semula Israel menikmati sokongan Barat. Penanaman hutan bergaya Eropah di 'tanah suci' dan 'landskap suci' mengesahkan nilai etika yang tidak dapat dinafikan bagi projek Israel (dan secara lanjutannya Barat) di Timur. Penghutanan juga dikaitkan, dari segi material dan simbolik, dengan Holocaust Eropah, dan beribu-ribu pokok telah ditanam sebagai memperingati komuniti yang hilang dan mangsa individu (Elon 1983: 200). Bagi rakyat Palestin, bagaimanapun, sedikit benda yang lebih baik menggambarkan peranan JNF yang terkenal sejak Nakba (Jamjoum 2010).

Founders and Sons, Elon writes: ‘[F]ew things are as evocatively symbolic of the Zionist dream and rationale as a “Jewish National Fund Forest”’ (Elon 1983: 200). Israel’s European-style forests and reforestation policies enjoy Western support. Planting a European-style forest in the ‘sacred soil’ and ‘sacred landscape’ confirms the undeniable ethical value of Israel’s (and by extension the West’s) project in the East. Afforestation is also linked, materially and symbolically, to the European Holocaust, and thousands of trees have been planted in memory of the lost communities and individual victims (Elon 1983: 200). For Palestinians, however, few things better encapsulate the notorious role of the JNF since the Nakba (Jamjoum 2010).