Record Breaking Interest in the World Zionist Congress Election
Throughout the spring, I worked to inspire interest and encourage your participation in the World Zionist Congress (WZC) election. The World Zionist Congress, an international body made up of Jews and Jewish organizations throughout the world, determines the priorities and policies of four significant organizations, the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish National Fund, the Jewish Agency for Israel and Jewish Federations of North America. This body is tasked with making key decisions regarding the allocation of over $1 billion each year supporting critical needs, projects and initiatives in Israel and throughout the diaspora. The period for voting ended on May 4.
Two weeks ago, the results of the elections were released. I want the community to understand them because they make a significant statement about Zionism in America.
The American Zionist Movement (AZM), who conducted the elections in the United States, announced that an all-time record of 230,257 votes were recorded for the US delegation to the 39th World Zionist Congress. This number marked an 86% increase over the previous election in 2020. In the words of Herbert Block, the executive Director of the AZM, “American Jews have spoken — through their record-breaking turnout in the 2025 World Zionist Congress election, they have powerfully demonstrated that Zionism in the United States is not only alive and well but stronger than ever. Thanks to this historic participation in the election, U.S. Jewry is poised to make an indelible mark when the World Zionist Congress gathers in October.”
This year, 22 different slates (also a record) spanning the diverse political beliefs, religious denominations, and cultural traditions that characterize American Jewish life competed in the election. The number of slates itself represented a 57% increase from the 14 American slates that competed for seats in 2020, demonstrating increased engagement in Zionist affairs
As many of you will remember, I encouraged voting for MERCAZ, the Zionist voice of the Conservative/Masorti movement. I’m happy to announce that MERCAZ received almost 28,000 votes, nearly doubling the number of votes it received in 2020, coming in fourth place in the elections. I want to thank all those who supported my call to support MERCAZ. The increased number of seats demonstrated an unprecedented cooperation among synagogues, camps, youth groups, and educational institutions affiliated with the Conservative movement. As a result of this success, MERCAZ is in a strong position to work with similarly minded groups to shape the future of Jewish life at home and in Israel.
This election also saw an explosion of interest among young Jews in the WZC, adding their voices to the future of the Zionist movement worldwide. Unexpectedly, a new party, AM YISRAEL CHAI, a group of young adults under the age of 35 came in second place with over 31,000 votes. Their amazing success is particularly significant as this demographic has faced the most significant opposition to Israel, Zionism, and indeed, Judaism on college campuses and in the various communities and spaces where our young people congregate. Instead of causing our young adults to hide, this opposition instead inspired activism, pride and a desire to influence the future. Though I supported MERCAZ, believing this slate to be the best way to articulate our values in the WZC, I am grateful and proud of our young people for organizing and achieving a path to success that has the potential to influence Zionist priorities for the next several years. We should all be proud of them.
Unfortunately, the election was not without its problems. There were some serious voting irregularities, including the discovery by AZM staff of unusual patterns of potentially fraudulent voting, which required the engagement of outside consultants to investigate. Approximately 18,948 votes were canceled as a result of investigations of irregularities and not included in the official vote total. Further investigation will determine whether any penalties will be imposed on slates connected with the fraudulent voting schemes. I firmly believe that any slates found to have engaged in illegal activity should be automatically disqualified
The WZO, and the elections that determine its delegates do not often receive the attention they should. This election, especially following the violence and upheaval in Israel and throughout the Jewish world since October 7 tells an important story besides simply the record of winners and losers. Many observers openly wondered: what would be the response to this election? Would American Jews rise to the challenge? Is Zionism still an important part of our identity? Do American Jews still feel their historic kinship to Israel and world Jewry?
The numbers speak for themselves, proving that the answer to each of these questions is a resounding yes. This historic election has affirmed that American Zionism remains vibrant and resolute. The unprecedented turnout sends a clear message: Jewish identity and connection to Israel remain central to American Jewry.
This moment represents strength, determination, and renewal for the future.
There were serious problems with the subject election other than fraud.
ReplyDeleteI recently changed my primary email address from a Hotmail account, which I have abandoned, to one I have had since I activated my first Android phone. I have occasionally used this Google Gmail account in the past with no problems. This Gmail address happens to include four dots in the string of characters that compose it.
In attempting to vote online in the WZO election, I first came across a stage where my email address was to be validated. I entered my Gmail address and promptly received an error message stating that the email address entered contained too many dots, and therefore was declared to be invalid.
I attempted again many times; each time being denied validation of my email address, and thus the ability to vote.