Another Israeli election campaign is behind us, but unbeknown to most of the public, another election campaign is currently underway and is expected to influence how $5 billion in funding to Israel's national institutions will be spent over the next five years: the elections to the World Zionist Congress.
Both events are certainly connected since the number of representatives from Israel to the Zionist Congress – around 38% – are determined by the number of seats each Zionist party gets in the Knesset. These delegates make up the leadership of the national institutions including the Jewish National Fund, the Jewish Agency, Keren Hayesod-United Israel Appeal and the World Zionist Organization. They also have the ability to influence allocation of funding which is meant to be invested in Israel and the Jewish people's future.
"Investment in the Jewish People" become an abstract notion long ago, and in practice translates (as in so very many other areas) into battles between right and left, between Reform and Orthodox. The national institutions' leadership decides on issues such as investment in the settlement – whether budgets will be approved for areas inside the Green Line, or those over it – and many other vital issues.
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The Zionist Congress, convened by Theodore Herzl, has been held since 1897. It is the supreme body of the WZO and its policy-making body. It comprises 525 delegates from Israel and the world; Israel has the largest number of delegates (200), which, as noted above, are determined by the relative number of seats received by each Zionist party in the Knesset. US Jews have 152 delegates, determined through democratic elections which are currently underway, while 34 other Jewish communities have a total of 173 delegates. The Zionist Congress is the equivalent of the Knesset, and its leadership is meant to represent the range of political and religious views in the Jewish world.
The elections are organized and overseen by the Zionist Federation in the US, the American Zionist Movement (AZM).
"Our goal is to encourage as many American Jews as possible to vote, and we are happy to see an increase in the number of candidates seeking election and to influence issues connected to Israel and the Jewish people overseas," said Herbert Block, executive director of the AZM. "We are glad to see the growth in the number of parties standing in the elections, with five new ones out of 15, and a total of 1,800 candidates."
US Jews not coming out in droves
The elections for the American contingent to the Congress are taking place online up until 11 March and are open to anyone who identifies as a Jew, is over 18, a permanent US resident, and is in favor of the "Jerusalem Program".
The biggest problem is that even though the level of participation has gone up this year (in 2015, 57,000 people voted, and this year over 70,000 had voted with a week still to go to the closing date), it is still a tiny portion of the US Jewish community. It is particularly puzzling given that this is an incredible opportunity to influence the make-up of an elected body that is meant to reflect the balance of political power between the various streams of world Jewry and the Jewish parties in Israel.
Yaakov Hagoel, Vice Chairman of the World Zionist Organization and Chairman of World Likud, is also puzzled by US Jewry's apparent indifference to being able to influence.
"Unfortunately, only a very small portion of the whole of the US Jewish population takes part in these elections. There are interest groups that would rather divert attention away from these elections in order to increase their power in the national institutions. I am glad to see an increase in the level of participation this year compared to previous elections, which is also down to the widespread use of social networks."
The Reforms are gaining strides
One community looking to increase their influence at the Congress and taking a different approach to previous elections is the Russian-speaking US Jewish community. Some estimate that the community is around 600,000 people. This time, they have decided to forego a sectoral approach despite their strength, and instead put candidates up in different slates in order to increase their influence and cross-party impact.
Anna Pekerman, CEO and President of Russian-language RUSA Radio, which broadcasts in New York, Philadelphia and Miami, told Israel Hayom, "I am very honored to be a delegate on the ZOA slate, an organization with proven results in fighting for Israel. This is the first time that Russian-speaking Jews are on the organization's slate for the elections, and we believe that the community will have greater involvement in strengthening Israeli-US relations."
While most Israeli political parties, including the ultra-Orthodox, take an active part in the workings of the national institutions and have representatives among the leadership, Blue and White decided not to do so due to a principled decision by party co-founder Yesh Atod leader Yair Lapid.
There has been a shift in this position of late, which can be seen to some extent with the appointment of former MK Aliza Lavie as chair of the Herzl Museum. This is an interesting development against the backdrop of a meeting held last week, during a meeting of the Jewish Agency's Board of Governors, between representatives from Blue and White and the Reform Movement. A potential alliance between the Reform Movement and Blue and White was discussed during the meeting with regard to attaining key positions in the national institutions.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, confirmed that conversations were underway with Blue and White representatives.
"At the last Zionist Congress, the Reform Movement received the greatest number of seats, and we are working to increase our strength even further," he said. "We want to increase our influence, and therefore it is natural for us to talk to representatives of the various parties in Israel, out in the open, to reflect the size of the Reform Movement around the world at the World Zionist Congress. The largest religious movement in America is strongly Zionist, committed to Israel and pleased to increase its influence at the Congress."
Mark Levenson, chairman of the Zionist Organization of America and one of the lead organizers of the ZOA Coalition slate stated, "We are very excited about the WZC election and we have been working extremely hard to persuade eligible voters to come out and vote for the ZOA Coalition slate.
"Our slate comprises 27 of the strongest pro-Israel organizations in America, including the religious, Jewish conservatives, Russian, Persian and Bukharan communities, Aish HaTorah and major Israel advocacy groups including, of course, the Zionist Organization of America, One Israel Fund, Americans for a Safe Israel and NORPAC," he said.
"This election is crucial for the future security, safety and vitality of Israel and the world Jewish community. Of priority and primary significance, we believe that Jews should have the right to live unimpeded in every part of Judaea and Samaria, as well as the rest of the Jewish State of Israel. We further believe the educational initiatives and programs in Israel should reflect this. We also strongly believe there should be zero tolerance for any acts of Antisemitism and we completely and without reservation condemn and will oppose with all our energy any BDS efforts by any entity or organization."
