39th World Zionist Congress
| 39th World Zionist Congress הקונגרס הציוני העולמי ה-39 | |
|---|---|
| Begins | October 28, 2025 |
| Ends | October 30, 2025 |
| Frequency | every five years |
| Location(s) | Jerusalem |
| Inaugurated | 1897 |
| Founder | Theodor Herzl |
| Previous event | 2020 (38th) |
| Participants | 525 delegates |
| Organized by | World Zionist Organization |
The 39th World Zionist Congress is scheduled to convene in Jerusalem from October 28-30, 2025.[1]
World Zionist Congresses elect leadership positions and determine policy for the World Zionist Organization (WZO).[2][3]
The congress allocates approximately $US 1 billion annually to institutions such as the World Zionist Organization, Keren Kayemet LeYisrael, the Jewish National Fund, and the Jewish Agency for Israel.[4]
Delegates
[edit]The Congress is composed of 525 delegates: 38% from Israel based on the most recent election results to the Israeli knesset, 152 (29%) from the United States, and the remainder are from the rest of the Jewish diaspora (33%).[4] Delegates in the diaspora were elected by votes open to all Jewish adults who asserted agreement with the Jerusalem Program and paid a nominal fee. While this had been the norm in the past in the United States, it was the first time elections were held in several countries where previously the composition of that country's slate was decided by "backroom deals" among Zionist organizations.[5]
United States
[edit]Voting for 152 US delegates occurred from March 10 to May 4, 2025. Twenty-two slates ran candidates, up from thirteen in 2020.[6] 230,257 valid votes were cast, up from 123,575 votes in 2020. 18,948 votes were invalidated after an investigation, due to "potentially fraudulent activity".[7] As a result, the Shas USA slate representing religious Shephardic voters was disqualified and three other Orthodox or Haredi slates were penalized.[8]
Right-wing slates won 81 seats while liberal slates won 71 seats. Overall, over 40% of the vote was won by right-wing Orthodox and Haredi slates.[9]
The top-ranking slate was Reform Judaism's Vote Reform slate with 47,887 votes, or 20.8% of the total. Am Yisrael Chai, group of Jewish college students and young professionals promoting the “love of Torah and Judaism” came in second place with 31,765 votes, or 13.8%.
Eretz Hakodesh, a Haredi slate allied with Israel’s Haredi United Torah Judaism party, placed third with 29,159 votes (12.7%).
Mercaz, which represents liberal Conservative/Masorti Judaism, was fourth with 27,893 votes (12.1%).[9]
The Orthodox Israel Coalition, representing mainstream Orthodox Religious Zionists was fifth with 26,975 votes (11.7%).[9]
Other Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox slates won a combined total of approximately 13,500 votes.[9]
The left-wing Hatikvah slate won 5% of the vote.[9]
WZO Chairman Yaakov Hagoel observed that: “For the first time, the conservative and right-wing bloc has achieved a clear majority."[9]
Canada
[edit]Voting was conducted from June 5 to June 15, 2025 by the Canadian Zionist Federation and elected a slate that was made up of a majority of progressive delegates. 10 of the 19 delegates elected were affiliated with liberal Judaism and progressive groups. Voting was open to all Canadian Jewish adults, provided they agreed with the Jerusalem Program. Almost 18,000 votes were cast.[8] This was the first election held "in a generation". Usually, Canada's slate is decide by consensus among Canadian Zionist Federation member organizations. The release of results were delayed due to investigation of "irregularities" in the online vote.[10]
19 delegates were elected by 17,878 voters as follows.[11]
| Slate | Votes | Seats | Position/Ideology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orthodox Israel Coalition —- Mizrahi | 4,013 | 4 | Religious Zionism, Modern Orthodox |
| Vote Reform —- ARZA Canada | 3,508 | 4 | Reform Judaism |
| Hatikvah Canada Democratic Israel | 2,830 | 3 | Ameinu/Meretz liberal progressive |
| United Eretz Hakodesh and Shaas | 2,628 | 3 | Haredi Ashkenazi and Shephardic, ultra-Orthodox |
| MERCAZ Canada | 2,614 | 3 | Conservative-Masorti Judaism |
| Canadian Forum of Russian-Speaking Jewry - United for Israel | 1,106 | 1 | Russian-speaking Jews, Yisrael Beiteinu |
| Likud Canada/Canadians for a Safe Israel | 474 | 1 | Right-wing Zionism, conservative, pro-Netanyahu |
| Canadian Young Judaea | 430 | 0 | Zionist youth, centrist |
| Herut Canada | 275 | 0 | Revisionist Zionism, Jabotinskyism |
United Kingdom
[edit]10,651 votes were cast to elect 19 delegates in an election which saw right-wing Orthodox and left-wing progressive slates gain at the expense of centrists, who were shut out in the first fully-contested election in two decades. Overall, right-wing and Orthodox slates won 11 seats while left-wing and progressive slates won the remaining eight.[12]
Eretz HaKodesh (EHK), representing ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jews, won 5 seats with 4,529 votes. Shas Olami, aligned with the Israeli Sephardi Orthodox party, won three seats with approximately 1,000 votes. The Mizrachi slate, representing mainstream Orthodox Jews and led by Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, won 3 seats with approximately 1,000 votes.[12]
The Our Israel slate, representing liberal, Masorti and Reform Jews won 5 seats with 2,099 votes, while the progressive Jewish Labour Movement-Meretz slate won 3 seats with approximately 1,000 votes.[12]
The right wing Jabotinsky's Israel slate, aligned with the Likud party of Benjamin Netanyahu failed to win any seats, as did the Kol Israel, Israel Solidarity Campaign UK, and Hanoar Hatzioni slates.[12]
Earlier, the EHK slate had been suspended for publishing an advertisement advising husbands that they could vote on behalf of their wives and children, contrary to election rules. The suspension was subsequently overturned.[12]
According to election rules adopted by the UK elections body, slates could only win a maximum of five seats. Due to this restriction, EHK and Shas ran as separate slates in hopes of winning more seats between them. In other countries, the two ran as a joint slate.[12]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ https://azm.org/event/39th-world-zionist-congress/
- ^ Holt, Faygie (30 Oct 2020). "38th World Zionist Congress bridges partisan divide, despite initial divisions". JNS.org. Retrieved 1 Nov 2020.
- ^ "Diaspora Jews Have Their Say: World Zionist Congress 2020". Jewish Exponent. January 15, 2020.
- ^ a b "The World Zionist Congress and the 2025 Elections—Fighting for Change From the Diaspora". Israel Policy Forum. Israel Policy Forum. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
- ^ Maltz, Judy (May 7, 2025). "In First for Many Jewish Communities, the People Will Choose Their Delegates to Zionist Congress". Ha'aretz. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ "2025 US Elections World Zionist Congress". American Zionist Movement.
- ^ "American Zionist movement announces preliminary results of us 2025 world zionist congress election". American Zionist Movement. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
- ^ a b Maltz, Judy. "In Canada, Liberal Groups Triumph in World Zionist Congress Election". Ha'aretz. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f "Religious, right-wing slates dominate after contentious US World Zionist Congress vote". Times of Israel. 6 June 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ^ Bessnir, Ellin (July 4, 2025). "Final Canadian results of elections to the World Zionist Congress delayed nearly three weeks so far, due to investigation of 'irregularities'". Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ "2025 CZF Election Results". Canadian Zionist Federation. Canadian Zionist Federation. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f Prinsley, Jane (31 July 2025). "Zionist centre of UK diaspora collapses in historic WZC election results". Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
