The World Zionist Congress is convening in Jerusalem on Tuesday for a three-day conference to vote on resolutions, appoint the leaders of the National Institutions, and set the agenda for Zionist leadership.
The congress will open with a ceremony with President Isaac Herzog, World Zionist Organization Yaakov Hagoel, and other heads of Zionist organizations and movements.
More than 1,400 delegates and alternate delegates from 43 countries will participate in the WZC, which serves as the legislative and decision-making body for the World Zionist Organization. The delegates will be divided into committees based on subject matter to deliberate on resolutions, which vary from supporting Diaspora education to calling for a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre.
At each conference, a coalition agreement is made to determine which portfolios are given to delegates of different slates. All slates are included in negotiation and agreement to decide who will head major institutions such as the WZO and Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF).
WZC follow record-breaking election
There is no expected day that the coalition agreement will be announced and signed, but, last time, the agreement was announced on the second day of the convention and signed the day after. If there is no coalition agreement, there will be a constitutional crisis. This year’s negotiations are complicated by two factions within the Likud movement negotiating separately, amid an internal dispute and failure to hold elections.
The congress, which is held every four years, follows a record-breaking election turnout earlier this year. Over 265,000 voters expressed their support for a wide variety of slates representing different political and religious denominations within the Jewish people.
The 39th congress will also see seven new federations being represented: Paraguay, Ecuador, Uganda, Serbia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan. At the end of the convention, federations from Moldova and Latvia will also join the movement.