“What would Herzl do, and why can’t I ask him myself?” is the question that Adam Scott Bellos, founder of The Israel Innovation Fund (TIIF), found himself contemplating repeatedly in the aftermath of October 7. From that moment, he began designing a project that would turn history into a living conversation.
On Wednesday, after four months of tireless effort and ingenuity, Bellos presented his latest project—an initiative to bring Theodor Herzl back to life—on stage at the Friends of Zion Museum (FOZ). The event drew a diverse crowd including politicians, businessmen, and delegates from the World Zionist Organization (WZO).
FOZ event draws crowd
The evening at FOZ, hosted by Kol Israel, featured speeches by former Jerusalem deputy mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum; Terry Newman, founder of the modular healthcare construction company MCC London Limited; and a panel of Israeli innovators.
One of the highlights of the event was the presentation of Wine on the Vine wines. Wine on the Vine is an initiative by TIIF which allows Diaspora Jews to reconnect to their homeland by inviting them to sponsor grapevines at many major wineries in Israel. Bellos views planting in the land of Israel as an integral tenet of Zionism, which is why Wine on the Vine was the first initiative that TIIF undertook after its founding in 2017.
However, the main attraction of the evening was undoubtedly the answer to the question “What would Herzl do?”: Herzl AI.
The audience of innovators and delegates showed signs of amazement as Bellos not only unveiled a lifelike, floor-to-ceiling moving portrait of Theodor Herzl, but also carried a light-hearted conversation with it.
How Herzl was brought back
Bellos had the idea of “reviving” Herzl in the aftermath of October 7. But it wasn’t initially his goal. “Antisemitism was no longer theoretical,” he said, describing the anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist shockwaves that Jews worldwide felt following the start of the Israel-Hamas War.
“The role of Zionism changed after October 7th because it’s very clear that the Diaspora is no longer needed to build Israel, but Israel is needed to protect and build the Diaspora,” Bellos explained. He rejected the view that Zionism requires emigration to Israel. “My view of Zionism is strong Jews around the world that support this country and either come to this country and live in this country and help it grow, or who build it from the outside.”
In order to realize what Zionism had to become in this climate, Bellos set out to strengthen the global Jewish population according to his two ideals for a strong diaspora: Hebrew and self-defense, which he described as “the pillars of being a strong Jew as well as being an educated Jew.”
To Bellos, the way to realize his ideal was simple: place Hebrew-speaking au pairs in Diaspora homes, thereby creating fluency, and fund Krav Maga training for Jews globally, “fulfilling Jabotinsky’s self defense ideal,” as he put it.
Bellos and his team set out to create a 70-page plan detailing how to fulfill these aspirations, in what was dubbed “Project Maccabee.” He modeled it after Herzl’s Der Judenstaat, where the founder of Zionism laid out his roadmap for the creation of a Jewish state.
As academics and thinkers reviewed Project Maccabee, Bellos recounted receiving feedback comparing his project to the works of Herzl and Ze’ev Jabotinsky, another Zionist leader. As comparisons grew, so did the idea that would eventually grow into Herzl AI.
In cooperation with D-ID—an Israeli startup focusing on generative AI technology—TIIF fed an AI model with thousands of pages of Herzl’s writings, including his countless books and plays. After months of dedicated work, the first iteration of Herzl AI was ready to be presented to the public. Fittingly, the first to see the revival in action were delegates to the 39th World Zionist Congress, first convened by Herzl himself in 1897.
Introducing Herzl AI to the world
Bellos envisions Herzl AI and its derivation to be adapted to different formats in the near future, spreading to schools, Jewish community centers, museums, and even personal devices. Even today, TIIF is in preliminary talks with the Jabotinsky Institute, the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, and other institutions within Israel to implement Herzl AI into their exhibitions. And it doesn’t stop there.
Even before completing work on Herzl, Bellos is already planning to expand to other Zionist leaders. “The potential is really unlimited to people who left an extensive amount of writings,” he said, adding that he envisages AI models trained on Golda Meir, Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Menachem Begin, and other well-renowned leaders, as well as potentially including religious figures such as Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Despite its Jewish focus, Bellos sees the versatility and adaptability of the Herzl AI as one of its biggest strengths, clarifying that the AI models, although Jewish and Zionist, can be placed “anywhere,” for “anybody that wants it,” including in non-Jewish spaces.
By building the answer to the question “What would Herzl do,” Bellos is turning history into a living conversation, inviting the next generation of Jews to ask the questions that will map their path forward.