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Section II: Counterclaim PREAMBLE RULES Section II: CounterClaim Against the ARZA: Vote Reform Slate THE COORDINATING COUNCIL FOR THE JEWISH HOMELAND/ERETZ HAKODESH, Complainant v. ARZA/Vote Reform, Respondent TO THE CHAIR AND JUDGES OF THE TRIBUNAL: The Coordinating Council for the Jewish Homeland (“Eretz Hakodesh” or “EHK”) hereby submits its Counterclaim against the ARZA/Vote Reform and Reconstructionist (“ARZA”) slate concerning its abandonment and contravention of the Jerusalem Program. EHK respectfully requests the American Zionist Movement (“AZM”) Tribunal annul the ARZA slate of delegates to the 38th World Zionist Congress and bar the certification of mandates to persons listed on that slate, in accordance with the directive of the Zionist General Council. PREAMBLE As a new entrant into the elections for the World Zionist Congress, Eretz HaKodesh focused its energies upon positive election efforts, rather than negativity from other campaigns.1 The filing of an utterly baseless and denigrating complaint from ARZA, however, forced us to look more deeply into ARZA’s own conduct. We submit this CounterClaim due to ARZA’s deliberate contravention of the Jerusalem Program, including as stated explicitly in a Resolution of the Zionist General Council. RULES I. The WZO Constitution and Jerusalem Platform Provide Clear Regulations and Guidelines. The World Zionist Organization (WZO) is an institution premised on the fundamental principles of Zionism, as defined in the WZO Constitution. That Constitution (Article 1, Section 1) states that the aim of Zionism is “to create for the Jewish People a home in Eretz Yisrael secured by public law.” 1 Eretz HaKodesh was even more meticulous following the AZM Tribunal Ruling on the first ARZA complaint against it. EHK Reply to ARZA page 15 The first manifesto of the Zionist movement was the Basel Program, adopted unanimously at the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland on Aug. 30, 1897. That manifesto required clear actions, without which the modern State of Israel would not have come into existence. Specifically, it called for the settlement of “Jewish agriculturists, artisans, and tradesmen in Palestine,” organizing a federation of all Jews, strengthening Jewish feeling and consciousness, and pursuing governmental grants necessary to achieve the Zionist purpose. The Basel manifesto was replaced by the Jerusalem Program in the 1950s. The Jerusalem Program of 1953 stated that “the task of Zionism is the consolidation of the State of Israel, the ingathering of exiles in Eretz Israel, and the fostering of the unity of the Jewish people.” Once again, Zionism was defined as having a task, requiring action. Specifically, it described “the ​ ​ program of work of the World Zionist Organization” as the following: 1. Encouragement of immigration, absorption and integration of immigrants; support of Youth Aliyah; stimulation of agricultural settlement and economic development; acquisition of land as the property of the people. 2. Intensive work for halutziut (pioneering) and hachsharah (training for halutziut). ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 3. Concerted effort to harness funds in order to carry out the tasks of Zionism. 4. Encouragement of private capital investment. 5. Fostering of Jewish consciousness by propagating the Zionist idea and strengthening the Zionist Movement; imparting the values of Judaism; Hebrew education and spreading the Hebrew language. 6. Mobilization of world public opinion for Israel and Zionism. 7. Participation in efforts to organize and intensify Jewish life on democratic foundations, maintenance and defense of Jewish rights. In its current version, the Jerusalem Program is incorporated into the WZO Constitution as Article 2, Section 2. It “views a Jewish, Zionist, democratic and secure State of Israel to be the expression of the common responsibility of the Jewish people for its continuity and future.” As with the Basel Program and earlier versions of the Jerusalem Program, the current Jerusalem Program offers a clear plan of actions to be encouraged and implemented by those who accept and support it. Per Article 5, Section 1, individual membership in the World Zionist Organization is limited to those over the age of eighteen who accept the Jerusalem Program and pay membership dues. A national Zionist Federation must likewise accept the Zionist Program (Article 5, Section 2a) and admit members who accept the Constitution and the program of the WZO (Article 7(a)). The Rules for the 2020 United States Election to the 38th World Zionist Congress require that both an individual voter accept the Jerusalem Program (Article I, Section 2(b)), and that an Election Slate “express the group’s full acceptance of and compliance with the WZO Constitution, the Jerusalem Program and the AZM Constitution.” EHK Reply to ARZA page 16 II. According to the Determination of the Zionist General Council, “Any organization or person supporting BDS must be excluded from the Zionist movement.” Resolution 1.2 of the Zionist General Council XXXVII/5, approved in November 2019 (attached hereto as Ex. I) (“ZGC Anti-BDS Resolution”), states that direct or indirect support for either ​ “‘full’ or ‘partial’ BDS is inconsistent with and shall be deemed a violation of the Jerusalem Program… any organization or person supporting BDS must be excluded from the Zionist movement” (emphasis added). ​ The resolution expressly includes and restates “territories controlled by Israel.” It is the ZGC’s position that one who supports any form of boycott directed against Jewish residents of Israel-held territories in Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights or elsewhere is in violation of, rather than a supporter of, the Jerusalem Program. The resolution highlights the fact that “anti-Jewish boycotts and imposts (the equivalent of ​ sanctions)” were described by Theodor Herzl as “types of persecutions against Jews that made a Jewish State necessary” — decades prior to the advent of the Nazi boycott of ​ 1932. Thus support for BDS is tied to an ancient and hateful Anti-Semitic pattern deplored by Herzl himself. The resolution also says that the Israel Supreme Court called BDS “political terrorism” — and that “BDS directed at territories controlled by Israel is unlawful.” ​ ​ The text of the ZGC Anti-BDS Resolution specifically does not limit its application to new slates or individuals joining an election, national Federation or the World Zionist Organization. Rather, ​ ​ it demands that an organization or person be excluded, removed, if at any time that organization ​ ​ or individual expresses support for BDS. Neither is there grounds to “grandfather in” a slate that ran prior to the 2019 passage of this Resolution. Any slate that now supports even partial BDS, even indirectly, is in violation of the Jerusalem Program and must be excluded from further participation in the Zionist movement. VIOLATIONS III. The ARZA slate espouses Divestment by the WZO itself from territories held by Israel. During a televised election forum on February 25, 2020, ARZA Executive Director Rabbi Josh Weinberg called for the WZO to divest itself from Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria over the 1948 Armistice Green Line.2 Rabbi Weinberg also revealed that the Reform movement even rejected funding to establish such Reform synagogues previously, expressly divesting 2 Debate hosted by Jewish Broadcasting Service. https://jbstv.org/wzc-election-forum-1/ ​ EHK Reply to ARZA page 17 from affiliation with Jewish residents of territories controlled by Israel.3 Divestment from ​ territories controlled by Israel is specifically identified by the ZGC Anti-BDS Resolution as a violation of the Jerusalem Program, requiring that the organization or person be excluded from the Zionist Movement. Rabbi Mark Golub, who is himself affiliated with the Reform movement and served as lead moderator of the debate, said to Rabbi Weinberg that “for a Reform Rabbi, for a leader of the Reform Movement, to say that you don’t want to build a Reform synagogue in a Jewish city, boggles my mind… would I like to see WZC money build a Reform synagogue anywhere in the ​ world, the answer is yes for me. And I’m just surprised the answer is not for you.” Even at the ​ end of this exchange, Rabbi Weinberg insisted that no, he, representing ARZA, does not want ​ ​ to see the World Zionist Organization fund institutions in Judea and Samaria. IV. ARZA “Interprets” the Jerusalem Program in ways that openly diverge from and contradict its plain meaning. The ARZA website devotes a page to the Jerusalem Program, “the official platform of the World Zionist Organization (WZO) and the Zionist Movement.” This page is entitled “The Jerusalem ​ Program Explained” (attached hereto as Ex. V). Yet the page neither presents nor links to the ​ actual text of the Jerusalem Program, but rather offers ARZA’s reinterpretation of it. The ARZA page expressly states that “The Jerusalem Program is an ideological statement, not a plan of action.” This cannot be reconciled with the many demands placed upon members of the Zionist movement, from Aliyah, to strengthening Israel, to furthering Jewish, Hebrew, and Zionist education. Had the Basel Program been taken as “an ideological statement, not a plan of action” in 1897, the State of Israel would not exist. Worse, the web page in question does not quote the actual text and its requirements; rather, it offers its own abbreviation of the text itself, but devotes a great deal of attention to how ARZA interprets each one. 1. “The Unity of the Jewish People” is reduced to a transactional relationship. The first foundation of the Jerusalem Program is “The unity of the Jewish people, its bond to its historic homeland Eretz Yisrael, and the centrality of the State of Israel and Jerusalem, its capital, in the life of the nation.” ARZA comments that “The early Zionists saw ‘unity’ as a one-way street, but today we view unity as best expressed through partnership and mutual responsibility, and it’s bond to its historic homeland Eretz Yisrael.” This entirely distorts the plain meaning of the word unity, which 3 Debate hosted by Jewish Broadcasting Service.
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