WZC Voting

American Jews have the opportunity to weigh in on the leadership and funding for Israeli and Jewish organizations around the world. We would like to recommend that you consider voting in the World Zionist Congress (WZC) upcoming 2020 elections. The WZC is the legislative body for the World Zionist Organization (WZO).

WZC oversees the allocation of $1 billion annually to various Jewish organizations (including World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency, and Jewish National Fund, among others.) These significant amounts of money have substantial impacts inside and outside Israel.

The election will determine this year's American representatives to the 38th World Zionist Congress (WZC). If certain issues are important to you, this is a way to have a voice.

The 38th World Zionist Congress will be held in Jerusalem from October 20 – 22, 2020. The WZC meets every five years to discuss policy and funding for Jewish institutions in Israel and across the world. The 1st Congress was the one convened by Theodore Herzl in Basel, Switzerland in 1897.

Between January 21 and March 11, 2020, American Jews will have the opportunity to vote online for one of over a dozen slates to influence Jewish future in Israel and around the world.

Voting is simple. Any self-identified Jew who lives in the US, is 18 (or will be by June 30), and isn't voting in the upcoming Knesset election can participate. The committee overseeing the vote charges $7.50 to register, which helps pay for the election -- the payment does not go to the WZO.

Please see the web-site set up by the American Zionist Movement, https://azm.org/elections, which arranges USA participation in the elections. The page lists the 15 slates that one could vote for. These slates represent points of view as diverse as socialism and nationalism, secularism and orthodoxy. The web-site has a booklet that you can read online or download and print, with two pages explaining each slate. The position of each slate is described in one page, and the second page lists its representatives.

Please consider voting for one of the slates, and suggesting to other Etz members to vote as well.

By voting, you sign your name onto the Zionist ideal, that Israel is the national homeland of the Jewish people. You choose representatives to the legislature of the World Zionist Organization, and through them, direct the allocation of the budget. By voting, you acquire a stake in Israel-Diaspora relations.

“If you will it, it is no dream.”

Thanks to the members of the JIAC and Aaron Schuman, Sherri Morrisson and Ted Schachter for added information. Ted did some research about the different slates you can vote for. Each slate gives you a list of names on its second page. By looking at the names and by knowing some of the people on the different slates, you can get a better idea of what they stand for. Here are direct links to all the slates, including the Bay Area and California connections that Ted discovered – other people might know of other connections. Not all slates have California connections.