While the vote for one World Zionist Congress coalition agreement was extended by another day, a new agreement was negotiated that would see a shift in positions in the national institutions.
Following overnight negotiations, World Mizrachi CEO Rabbi Doron Perez is poised to become the president of the World Zionist Organization or chair of the United Israel Appeal, though the agreement that is being voted on has him set to become WZO chairman in rotation with incumbent World Likud head Yaakov Hagoel.
Factions are pushing for Perez to seek chairmanship of WZO or of the United Israel Appeal, but according to several WZO sources, Perez has his heart set on the otherwise ceremonial presidency, believing he can effectuate change with the position.
The new agreement would still have Hagoel in the WZO chair rotation, but with a Yesh Atid representative. The Jewish National Fund chairman would reportedly still be Yesh Atid MK Meir Cohen, in rotation with a Likud representative.
Several factions told The Jerusalem Post that the agreement had greater inclusion than the last two deals, as it did not exclude any party besides Otzma Yehudit – which had been excluded due to demands from left-leaning slates.
This consensus, reportedly including both rival Likud factions backing Hagoel and Culture Minister Miki Zohar, is why the Congress leadership believed it suitable to ignore the ongoing vote and reorganize the positions. One WZO source said that “consensus is more important than procedure,” as if everyone agreed with the action, then how it was implemented was less important.
Voting on the second coalition agreement began on Sunday morning and was set to end on Tuesday, but before the polls closed, the WZO presidency decided to extend it by another day.
The agreement that delegates were voting on would have approved Perez as WZO chairman, in rotation with Hagoel. WZO vice chairman and MERCAZ senior representative Dr. Yizhar Hess would retain his position. Cohen was also set to rotate with a Likud member for the JNF chair, and United Israel Appeal chairman Sam Grundwerg would continue in an extended term while a replacement was found.
The vote on the agreement was met with opposition from right-leaning slates, including World Mizrachi, with a petition filed to the WZO Zionist Supreme Court to stop it so that a new deal could be negotiated. The court determined that the vote would go ahead, but its results would be kept confidential until the respondents, including Hagoel and WZO, could reply.
Right-leaning slates oppose latest WZO chariman agreement
Right-leaning slates had called for the return to the first coalition agreement, which excluded Hagoel’s Likud faction in favor of Zohar’s. Perez had been set to rotate the WZO chairmanship with a Yesh Atid representative. The coalition agreement imploded when Zohar proposed the prime minister’s son, Yair Netanyahu, for the WZO executive board, which slates such as Yesh Atid and MERCAZ called a red line.
Instead of holding a position officiating vote, the Congress voted to technically extend the convention for two weeks.
The second agreement did not list Netanyahu among those proposed for the executive but included a provision in which the WZO leadership would elect two members to the executive on behalf of “Likud in the National Institutions” – a provision that would have made it unlikely for the prime minister’s son to be appointed.
Sources said this clause would remain in the agreement, but opinions differed depending on the side of the aisle on whether it would be possible for Netanyahu to be elected to the executive.
Negotiations on the first deal had stretched out into the last night of the WZC on Wednesday, in part due to the fractured negotiation front from Likud. A dispute with the Likud about elections meant that slates had to negotiate and come to different agreements with the party’s various factions.