Upon his release from prison in 1886, Dizengoff returned to Kishinev and founded the Bessarabian branch of Hovevei Zion, which he represented at the 1887 conference.

In Palestine, Churchill told an anti-Zionist delegation: “This country has been very much neglected in the past and starved and even mutilated by Turkish misgovernment… you can see with your own eyes in many parts of this country the work which has already been done by Jewish colonies; how sandy wastes have been reclaimed and thriving farms and orangeries planted in their stead.” That same day he told a Jewish delegation he would inform London that the Zionists are “transforming waste into fertile..planting trees and developing agriculture in desert lands...making for an increase in wealth and cultivation" and further that the Arab population is “deriving great benefit, sharing in the general improvement and advancement.”[4] While studying chemical engineering at the University of Paris, Dizengoff met Edmond James de Rothschild, who sent him to Ottoman-ruled Palestine to establish a glass factory which would supply bottles for Rothschild's wineries.

[2] In 1904, Dizengoff helped establish the Geulah company, which bought up land in Palestine from Arabs, and became involved in the import business, especially machinery and automobiles to replace the horse-drawn carriages that had served as the primary transportation from Jaffa port to Jerusalem and other towns.

When Dizengoff learned that residents were organizing to build a new neighborhood, Tel Aviv, he formed a partnership with the Ahuzat Bayit company and bought land on the outskirts of Jaffa, which was parceled out to the early settlers by lot.

[citation needed] After Akiva Aryeh Weiss founded the Ahuzat Bayit housing association in 1906, Dizengoff joined him to help to establish a modern Jewish quarter near the Arab city of Jaffa in 1909.

[2] On April 11, 1909, sixty-six families gathered on the sandy shoreline using sea shells in a lottery to divide up lots of what was renamed Tel Aviv in 1910.

In the iconic image, members of the collective can be seen standing on sand dunes in the exact location where Rothschild Boulevard currently runs.

[citation needed] Dizengoff and his wife were among the first sixty-six families who gathered on 11 April 1909 on a sand dune north of Jaffa to hold a lottery to distribute plots of land which established what eventually became the city of Tel Aviv.

[9] Right after the Arab riots of April–May 1921,[10] he persuaded the authorities of the British Mandate to recognize Tel Aviv as an independent municipality and not a part of Jaffa.

After Asher Zvi Ginzberg, known as Ahad Ha'Am, arrived in Israel in 1922, Dizengoff offered him a teaching position at Tel Aviv's first Hebrew-speaking high school, Herzliya Gymnasium.

Although Ginzberg was living in Jerusalem at the time, the offer of a job, and a house on the newly named Ahad Ha'Am Street, convinced the Zionist philosopher to move to Tel Aviv.

Initially, the fair was held in the south of the city, but after its great success, a fairground with designated buildings was built in north Tel Aviv.

[11] Dizengoff was consequently involved with the development of the city, and encouraged its rapid expansion—carrying out daily inspections, and paying attention to details such as entertainment.

I packed my things and decided to give him a hand.” [citation needed] In June 1931, Marc Chagall and his family[14][15] traveled to Tel Aviv, on the invitation of Dizengoff, to help establish a Jewish Museum of Art.

In 1930, after the death of his wife, Dizengoff donated his house to his beloved city of Tel Aviv and requested that it be turned into a museum.