World Zionist Congress Elections Presents 'Rare

World Zionist Congress Elections Presents ‘Rare Opportunity’ to Strengthen Global Jewish Community algemeiner.com/2020/01/26/world-zionist-congress-elections-presents-rare-opportunity-to-strengthen-global- jewish-community The opening of the 26th World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem in 1964. Photo: Pridan Moshe/GPO. JNS.org – Jews in the United States are voting online for slates that represent diverse political beliefs, religious denominations and cultural traditions vying for a seat in the 38th World Zionist Congress (WZC), set to convene in October 2020 in Jerusalem. Thousands of American Jews are expected to cast their ballots in the elections for the WZC, also known as “the parliament of the Jewish people,” before polls close on March 11. A total of 1,800 candidates across a record number of 15 slates are hoping to secure the available 152 seats the United States holds in the Congress, and as such, have a say in decisions made about the Jewish state and world Jewry over the next five years. Voting began on Tuesday, Jan. 21. get the best of the algemeiner straight to your inbox! sign up! “American delegates make up nearly 30 percent of the Congress. This election presents a rare opportunity for us to participate in strengthening the Jewish community both in the United States, Israel and worldwide,” said the American Zionist Movement (AZM), the US federation in the World Zionist Organization and the election’s organizer. [It’s] extremely important,” Eugene Lekakh, CEO of the slate American Forum for Israel, told 1/8 JNS about the election. “This is the only framework where any American Jew can influence the future of Israel and the Jewish people worldwide.” May 26, 2020 9:52 am US Officials Frustrated Over Settler Leaders’ Opposition to Trump Peace Plan JNS.org - Frustration is mounting among US administration officials over the position expressed by some settler leaders in Israel, who... Lekakh added that “we must encourage proud Zionism, empowering Israel and fighting with our enemies, not negotiating with them. We must educate our children to be strong and proud Jews.” Eligible voters must be age 18 or older, identify as Jewish, be a permanent resident in the United States (and not voting or planning to vote in the March 2 Israeli general elections), and affirm their commitment to the Jerusalem Program, the official platform of the World Zionist Organization. Those elected from the United States will join the remaining 500 elected delegates from Israel and around the world at the 38th World Zionist Congress to make decisions regarding four key institutions (the World Zionist Organization, Keren Hayesod, Keren Kayemet LeIsrael–Jewish National Fund and the Jewish Agency for Israel), and its allocation of nearly $1 billion annually to support Israel and Jews around the world. After the delegates are elected, the Congress forms a Zionist Council proportionate to the total number of delegates in the Congress, and they meet at least once a year. The Zionist Council governs the World Zionist Organization, serves as the general assembly of the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, and holds half the seats on both the Jewish Agency for Israel’s board of governors and the board of Keren Hayesod. Together, the four organizations have a budget of $1 billion per year, and the delegates can advise and work in cooperation with the leadership of these groups on direction, strategies and actions. 2/8 Theodor Herzl, considered the father of modern-day Zionism, convened the first Zionist Congress in 1897 in Basel, Switzerland. WZC is the only democratically elected global Jewish forum. ‘The diversity of the American Jewish community’ Rav Doron Perez from the No. 4 slate Orthodox Israel Coalition–Mizrahi told JNS, “I often say that this election is one of the most critical elections for the Jewish people that is unknown. It’s a paradox. It’s one of the most important elections that many people haven’t heard about. The key has to be Jews getting involved, getting engaged, coming forward, wanting to play a role,” and feeling strongly about Israel and the future of Judaism. Backed by Orthodox organizations such as the Rabbinical Council of America and the Orthodox Union, this coalition wants to strengthen Orthodox yeshivahs in Israel and the Diaspora; fight the BDS movement; combat antisemitism and anti-Zionism; encourage aliyah; and promote settlements in Judea and Samaria, and in the Golan Heights. Perez also stressed the need to strengthen the physical security of Jewish communities around the world as one of the major key interests for his slate. He added, “For me, for the first 70 years of the State of Israel, Israel was the project of the Jewish people. Jews were involved in building it. I believe from now and for the next 70 years, the Jewish people need to be the project of the State of Israel. We as Jews and we as national institutions have to share a sense of responsibility for our fellow Jews anywhere in the world.” He continued, “Every Jewish community around the world is our problem; our privilege. We are partners in dealing with their challenges, and I think perhaps there’s been a little bit of a disconnect between the growth of the communities around the world and the mission of those particular organizations. … I can tell you for the first time in a long time the issues of Diaspora Jewry are now becoming front and center in the conversation of the State of Israel.” A total of 56,000 people voted in the last election in 2015. Herbert Block, executive director of the American Zionist Movement, previously told JNS he is expecting an even higher turnout this year, partially because Jews the world over are in a voting mindset with a third election coming up in Israel on March 2 and the 2020 presidential election cycle well underway in the United States. “We’re excited for so many people representing the diversity of the American Jewish community to affirm their connection to Israel and Zionism by voting in this election,” said Block. “American Jews are increasingly engaged with Israel and want to be involved in the political process. With so much attention focused on Israeli elections, this is an opportunity for American Jews to declare their Zionism and participate in an election that will impact not only Israel, but all world Jewry.” 3/8 In the 2015 election, the slate of the Reform movement got 56 spots on the Congress, the Conservative movement got 25, and the main Orthodox delegation received 24. The rest of the seats were split among other parties. Some slates this year promote that they are geared towards specific minorities and communities. For example, Lekakh told JNS that for American Forum for Israel, which is affiliated with Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman, one of its many goals is “to let the American Russian-speaking Jewish community have voice and influence within the major Jewish organizations, and have budgets for its community needs: Jewish and Zionist education and pro-Israeli activity.” “We represent the American Russian-speaking Jewish community, which unfortunately for decades was excluded and distanced from the leading positions in the major Jewish establishment in the United States,” added Lekakh. It came in fourth place in the last election with 10 seats. Another slate, Vision, is being led by Rudy Rochman and other millennial activists working to empower younger voices and ensure that the resources of the Zionist movement be strategically directed towards identifying and achieving the next goals of Jewish liberation, according to the party’s platform. “We are committed to defending Judea and Samaria, decolonizing Jewish identity and promoting fresh conversations about the next goals of Jewish history,” Michael Shepsis, one of the candidates on the Vision slate, told JNS. “We are against the two-state solution because it negates the aspirations of both Jews and Palestinians and has resulted in several new injustices for both people. Rather, we support grassroots engagement to cultivate better relations between both people, based on mutual understanding and respect.” ‘Building the Israeli-American Jewish relationship’ The Israel Shelanu slate, which purports to be the first-ever part of Israelis living in the United States, seeks to represent the views and needs of the fast-growing community. “As Israelis living in the United States, it is important to us that our children grow up in an open and pluralistic atmosphere, but at the same time, we want them to be exposed to educational and communal activities of Hebrew language and culture,” said Shanie Korabelnik, one of the founders of Israel Shelanu. “Unfortunately, the Jewish community in the United States has not responded to this need, and we have decided to take the lead and take our destiny into our hands.” Similarly, the Kol Yisrael slate, which is being led by StandWithUs and the Israeli-American Council, is aimed towards renewing interest and innovation in the American Zionist movement, as well as bridging gaps between Israelis and the American Jewish community. 4/8 “The mission of building the Israeli-American Jewish relationship is too important for us to stand on the sidelines. A group of us decided that we needed to take action. This new slate will pursue policies that enrich the US-Israel connection,” said Naty Saidoff, chair of the Israel-American Council. Additionally, No. 8 slate Hatikvah, supported by the American Jewish lobby J Street and journalist Peter Beinart, who has vocally criticized Israel and its policies, said it “oppose[s] the current policy of permanent occupation and annexation” of the West Bank, and that “the occupation is sustained by ongoing policies of repression that only serve to exacerbate conflict and require daily violence to maintain it.” It added that it “proudly stand[s] with those Israelis searching for peace with Palestine.” Then there is the ZOA Coalition slate, endorsed by many in Netanyahu’s Likud Party, which pushes for a one-state solution; Israeli settlements; a fight against the BDS movement and antisemitism; and the creation of what it calls a “Iranian-proxy Palestinian-Arab terror state,” among others.

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