Last week, the 39th World Zionist Congress convened in Jerusalem, following elections that began at the start of the year. At the congress, newly elected delegates are sworn in, and the key leadership roles across the Zionist institutions are allocated. These roles determine the direction of bodies responsible for distributing over a billion dollars annually – funds that are essentially the foreign wealth fund of the Jewish people.
As secretary-general of Kol Israel, a small centrist party that is a successor to the historic General Zionists, what I do know, with a heavy heart, is that no matter who ends up creating a coalition and essentially “winning” (this is still being wheeled and dealed), the Jewish people have lost.
The congress opened with a sense of hope and optimism. More than a thousand delegates from across the globe came to participate in this remarkable experiment that Theodor Herzl began in 1897, the start of the political process that led to the creation of the State of Israel.
Of course, as with every Jewish political gathering, tension is always in the air. Much of it revolved around the strong showing in election results of the ultra-Orthodox parties, which, ironically, can be interpreted as a small Zionist triumph. These same factions walked away from the Zionist movement in the 1930s, dismissing it as too liberal and secular. Yet five years ago, drawn by the power and resources offered, they decided to return.
The irony is impossible to miss: parties that refuse to sing “Hatikvah” or include women in their Knesset lists now comply with the congress’s constitution, which requires female delegates. Those who once rejected the Zionist project are now competing for influence within it.
Strategic political alliances
Throughout the congress, backroom negotiations dominated the atmosphere. Despite what anyone might claim, these talks have little to do with ideology or values.
Alliances crossed every imaginable line: Yisrael Beytenu’s Avigdor Liberman and Herut aligned with the Left, Yesh Atid signed with right-wing factions, and Likud – splintered into four competing factions – accused each other of betrayal while simultaneously negotiating deals with everyone.
Meanwhile, the ultra-Orthodox delegates were as strategic as ever, avoiding top leadership roles so their “Zionism” wouldn’t be too visible, yet ensuring they secured generous budgets for their institutions.
On the second day, the congress turned to resolutions. This is where my optimism began to crumble.
I began to see how deeply cynicism had taken root when left-wing parties torpedoed a resolution we proposed to provide mental health support for soldiers, because it was presented by Kol Israel with the support of Mizrachi.
And when Meretz Argentina tried to sabotage our bipartisan motion on combating antisemitism on campus – simply because StandWithUs, an apolitical grassroots organization was involved in presenting it – I realized how far the congress had drifted from its purpose.
Adding insult to injury, there were other slates, some claiming to represent Zionist youth movements, that spent all week stealing delegates from other slates rather than presenting resolutions.
Nepotism at the WZC
The farce reached its climax when Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar, after securing broad coalition agreements, tried to carve out a role for Yair Netanyahu – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son – in the World Zionist Organization and simultaneously delivered an epic own goal. The ensuing collapse of his deal was both absurd and revealing.
I oppose nepotism entirely, but let’s be honest: both opposition leader Yair Lapid and Shas head Arye Deri have long employed relatives within these same Zionist institutions. It’s a rot that spans the spectrum. It also highlights the core of the problem: these institutions no longer serve the vision for which they were created.
The Zionist institutions should be forums for visionary debate, spaces where we imagine and plan for 2048, and beyond to the next hundred years of our Jewish future. Instead, they’ve become a marketplace for power, jobs, and money.
What was once the beating heart of Jewish political imagination – the place where our people charted their collective destiny – has devolved into a cheap political bazaar, stripped of values, vision, and creativity.
So, who won at the World Zionist Congress?
No one did. We all lost.
The writer is a Foreign Ministry special envoy and serves as the secretary-general of Kol Israel.