Every five years, delegates representing Jewry from around the world gather in Jerusalem at the World Zionist Congress (WZC) to make impactful policy decisions – including how to allocate over a billion dollars per year in Israel, in the US, and around the world.
The WZC, “the parliament of the Jewish people,” is the legislative body of the World Zionist Organization (WZO), founded by Theodore Herzl in 1897.
“At the Zionist Congress, American Jews have not only a voice, you have a vote,” said Yizhar Hess, vice chairman of the WZO. “And it’s so important you use that vote in a way that promotes your vision for Israel and the Jewish people. Your values. When you don’t vote, you let those who do shape important policy and spending decisions made at some of the largest organizations in the Jewish world that are controlled by the Congress.”
Amongst the delegates’ tasks is determining the makeup of the officials and committees who will continue the WZO’s work over the five years until the next WZC session.
Jewish adults residing in the U.S. can vote in the upcoming election from March 10 to May 4, 2025. Voting will take place online and, upon request, via paper ballot. No congregational membership or other affiliation is required.
Why Not Voting Is Voting…For The Far Right
No matter how many American Jews cast ballots, the US delegation will have 152 seats, about one-third of the entire 39th World Zionist Congress, which convenes in October 2025.
The only questions are: who will represent American Jews and what are their ideologies?
Votes are cast for slates (parties), listed here, along with their platform statements and individual delegates.
The US delegation will be apportioned among the slates based on the percentage of the vote each receives. The right to vote in a grassroots election isn’t to be taken for granted. Some world regions send delegates who are appointed by their national organizations, not elected.
In 2020, participation in the US elections for the WZC was the highest ever – a doubling of 2015’s turnout.
The mobilization of ultra-Orthodox slates drove this increase, resulting in a far-right coalition that held about a third of the spots on the U.S. delegation. By population, 9% of American Jews are Orthodox, according to a 2020 Pew Research Center survey.
“Under 2% of American Jews voted [in 2020], and it’s so important that more do this time,” WZO official Hess said. “Especially Reform and Conservative Jews who were really underrepresented in the last election.”
The coalition of far-right slates supported the funding of controversial Israeli settlements in the West Bank, for example; a policy opposed by progressive slates representing the majority of American Jews.
Brand new in 2020, a slate associated with the Haredi movement, Eretz Hakodesh, changed the balance of power in 2020 by receiving enough votes to seat 25 delegates. This meant that the Haredim, who represent 5% of US Jewry, cast 16% of the votes at the WZC, according to the Times of Israel.
In comparison, MERCAZ USA, which represents the 17% of American Jews who identify as Conservative/Masorti, sent only 18 delegates.
Eretz Hakodesh organizers want to repeat or expand their 2020 feat. Their campaign slogan: “We did it once. We’ll do it again.”
Harold Kravitz, rabbi emeritus at Adath Jeshurun Congregation, is a returning delegate on the 2025 MERCAZ USA slate. He expressed this observation, which someone else originally shared with him during his long history of involvement with the WZO process:
“Saying that you are committed to Israel and to Zionism and not voting in the WZC election is the same as saying that you’re committed to democracy but not voting in the national election.”
Last March, he participated in WZO meetings, where he fought alongside others for, in his words, “human rights, women’s rights, and LGBTQ rights.”
“That all happened because of the coalition advocating for those values,” said Kravitz.
This year a record-breaking 21 slates are on the American ballot, representing a diverse group of Jewish voices. As was the case in 2020, a variety of Minnesotans will be participating in the 2025 election not just by voting but as proposed delegates.
“There are definitely losers if the WZC follows the rightward trend in Israel and the US,” said Rabbi Adam Stock Spilker of Mount Zion Temple. He’s a delegate on the Vote Reform slate, which won the greatest number of seats – 39 – in 2020.
“For over 125 years, the WZO has been a remarkable achievement for the Jewish people, the proverbial nation among nations who then founded a nation in Israel,” Spilker said. “Uniquely – and this cannot be overemphasized – all Jews, regardless of citizenship, have a voice in the future of [this] modern, imperfect project. Those of us who are not citizens of Israel are able to hold up the banner of our Jewish values, honed over millennia of statelessness, that have a vote even with the realpolitik of having a state.”
What’s At Stake In The U.S. And In Israel?
This year’s election is especially crucial as Israel fights existential threats through a multi-front war following the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. Questions loom about how to ensure the return of all the hostages, and priorities for rebuilding the communities destroyed by Hamas in the Gaza Envelope and in the north by Hezbollah.
The Congress will influence not just the future of Israel, but life in the Diaspora.
Fund allocations directly affect the US, including WZO support for denominational organizations (Union for Reform Judaism, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, etc.), physical security for Jewish institutions, antisemitism efforts, camp and education, and endeavors such as JAFI’s Shlichut (Israeli Emissary) program, which places a Shaliach (Israeli Emissary) locally through the St. Paul Jewish Federation.
The sums in question are vast, but Kravitz believes that “this isn’t just about money.”
In addition to external threats, a variety of political crises have strained Israeli society and government, sparked by controversies like governmental interventions to overhaul the judiciary and threaten its independence after the Supreme Court thwarted some of its policies. Like Jewish communities worldwide, ours has closely followed the resulting massive anti-government protests, both from home in Minnesota and by bringing a voice of concern to Israel.
Heidi Schneider, a past MERCAZ delegate from Minnesota, described her 2023 participation in the WZO process as witnessing a “battle for Israel’s democracy,” one in which ultra-Orthodox political forces orchestrated surprise administrative machinations, ultimately unsuccessful, to threaten the pluralistic and equal-rights coalition platforms that represent most American Jews.
Schneider’s first-hand experience with the overrepresentation of the far right in the last WZC informed her prediction that the 2025 election would be especially vital:
“At this critical moment in Israel’s history, it is essential that diaspora Jews work together to strengthen our representation in the next World Zionist Congress,” she said.
Rabbi Alexander Davis of Beth El Synagogue shared his view of the election’s relevance.
“Voting is so easy! But it’s so important,” he said. “With billions of dollars at stake, there is no better way for Diaspora Jews to impact Israeli society.”
“Participation is not enough,” he added. “Who you vote for matters. If we want to see a modern Jewish State that is democratic and pluralistic, we have to vote for a slate that reflects our values and our hopes. We will take no pride in an Israel that devolves into an extremist theocracy.”
The Meaning of Zionism Today
The recent surge in antisemitism often manifests as anti-Zionism, which adds a certain charge to identifying as a Zionist in this election. For some, “it’s complicated,” and for others, it’s a source of pride and determination.
“At a time of rising anti-Zionism and antisemitism, this vote binds us together as Jews around the world and to Israel. It reminds us of the early Zionist movement before the establishment of the state and expresses our commitment to the future of the state,” said Rabbi Davis.
Part of the simple voting requirements in the WZC election is support for the Jerusalem Program declaration, the Zionist movement platform. In addition, voters must be at least 18 by June 30, reside in the US, and pay a $5 fee for election administration costs.
In this post-October 7 world, how does voting feel this year for Spilker of Mount Zion Temple?
“I am a proud liberal Zionist so I have no problem being clear and outspoken about this,” he said. “At the same time I want folks to know that the definition of Zionism is ever-changing. I encourage folks not to get caught up with the Jerusalem Program’s language. Sign it and know that this is the moment you can have a voice in the future of the Jewish people. Let your voice be heard.”
Kravitz said that defining Zionism is hard because both extremes are trying to define it.
“We don’t have to accept those definitions from the extreme far-left, who are anti-Israel or anti-Zionist, nor on the extreme right, who defend Zionism in ways I consider highly problematic,” he said. “I want to define Zionism through the values of our movement and the other movements in Judaism who share a vision of Israel having self-determination and sovereignty, as other peoples do. Israel should aspire to the highest values.”
Voting opens on March 10 and goes through May 4.
