Its establishment was suggested at the First Zionist Congress in 1897; the first definite steps toward its institution were taken at the Second Zionist Congress in Cologne, Germany in May, 1898.
Jej vytvorenie navrhli na prvom sionistickom kongrese v roku 1897; prvé konkrétne kroky na založenie tejto inštitúcie sa podnikli na druhom sionistickom kongrese v nemeckom Kolíne nad Rýnom v máji 1898.