In the room where it happened: World Zionist Congress

By Howie Sniderman

(AJNews) – It costs 8 shekels to ride the Jerusalem Light Rail Train.  I took the LRT daily to Binyanei Ha’Uma (the Jerusalem International Conference Center) to attend the 39^th World Zionist Congress on October 28-29.  The 39^th iteration of Theodor Herzl’s original convening of the leaders of the Jewish world in Basel, Switzerland in 1897.

I mention the Jerusalem LRT for two reasons.  First, they are digging up much of downtown West Jerusalem as they construct new lines so I felt like I was right at home back in Edmonton, seeing traffic tied up in knots trying to find ways around the construction related congestion.

But, more germane, I mention the Jerusalem LRT because, in preparation for the whirlwind of Israeli politics that predictably descended on the Congress, a few days prior I had an early crash course in ‘differing opinions’ when, over a delicious Shabbat dinner at the home of close friends from Beth Shalom’s sister synagogue in Jerusalem, Kehillat Ya’ar Ramot, I (not so) innocently asked the dozen or so at the table for their advice on the best way to access and pay for travel on the Jerusalem LRT.

As you will imagine, there were a dozen or so different opinions gleefully shouted my way and at one another over the next 30 minutes until everyone was satisfied that they’d had their say.  In the end, one of my friends abruptly got up from the table, walked out the door and 3 minutes later walked back in and handed me a Rav Kav (transit) card.  You tap it as you enter the train – one of the various ways in which you can pay for an LRT ride.

So, what did I learn from this?  No surprise here – it’s not what you know, it’s what you do that will carry the day.  You may have the loudest, shrillest and/or most insistent voice in the room.  But rest assured, there will be others who are in the background ‘doing’ while you are talking and, in the end, they will carry the day.   Or not.  Which is the wonderful thing (maybe?) about Israeli politics.

Let me give you an example.  One of the well-publicized resolutions voted on at the WZO Congress urged the Israeli Knesset to enact legislation that makes it mandatory for all age-eligible Israeli’s to complete national service or service in the IDF.  In other words, no more exemptions for Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox).  Indeed, in the weeks leading up to the Congress the Knesset itself has been rife with speculation on what the long-promised legislation on the issue would actually say.  The latest iteration, which may well be superseded by something else by the time you read this, would exempt 50% of age-eligible Haredi who are not enrolled in a Yeshiva. (Hmmm – I wonder how quickly the Haredi Yeshiva enrollment ledgers will inflate if that ends up being the legislated ‘compromise’?).

More to the point, with the issue squarely on the table at the WZO Congress and in the Knesset, the Haredi called for a ‘Million Man’ protest (no women allowed, of course) to take place at the Central Jerusalem Train station – directly in front of the conference centre and exactly where my LRT station stop was located.  They set the protest for the final morning of the Congress, when the resolution on the exemptions was scheduled for vote, making it impossible to access the conference centre.

In response, the WZO Congress met until nearly midnight the night before to complete the vote on all resolutions (but one), passing the ‘equal national service for all’ resolution by a margin of almost 4 to 1.

Votes for:              427

Votes against:    109

Abstentions:         12

Resolution passed.

This was one of the resolutions proposed by Mercaz Olami – the political arm of the Conservative/Masorti movement.  The approval of the resolution – which is now the official ‘policy’ that will be promoted and followed by the World Zionist Organization – is indicative of and representative of the overall ‘mood’ of the Jews of the World and indicative of the ultimate outcome of most of the other 30 or so policy resolutions that were  reviewed, debated and voted upon by the 755 delegates to the Congress from over 43 countries, including delegates from Uganda, one of 6 nations making their debut at a WZO Congress.

The final resolution to be voted upon at each Congress relates to the ratification of a Coalition Agreement.  Specifically, an agreement on how the leadership of the WZO and its constituent arms, known collectively as the National Institutions, will be governed for the coming 5 years until the next Congress.

The National Institutions of the World Zionist Congress include:

The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) – JAFI works in 65 countries.  Amongst other things, JAFI promotes Aliyah, sends Shlichim to engage with local Jewish communities who bring Israel to the world, and provides funding for the security of threatened Jewish communities.

Keren Kayemeth L’Yisrael/Jewish National Fund (KKL/JNF) – Since its establishment in 1901 KKL/JNF has helped build Israel though forestry projects, combating desertification, community development, and water management amongst other things.  KKL/JNF owns and controls over 12% of the land of Israel.

Keren Hayesod/United Israel Appeal: Established in 1920 with a mission to raise funds and provide social services for the State of Israel,  this national institution has partnerships in 45 countries and helps, amongst other things, with the absorption of immigrants to Israel, provides funding for programming and services that strengthen weak populations and disadvantaged youth in Israel and for programs which connect Diaspora Jews to Israel by cultivating and facilitating the dissemination of information and informed discussions about Zionism and modern Israel.

World Zionist Organization:  The various departments of the WZO include those that combat anti-Semitism, promote Holocaust Commemoration, provide spiritual services in the Diaspora, organize & liaison with Israelis in the Diaspora, and strengthen Jewish Identity and connection to Israel in the spirit of Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

Controlling an overall budget in excess of $5 Billion USD annually, it’s patently clear why efforts to populate the key leadership positions are a struggle at each WZO Congress and the 39^th iteration was no different.  In the end, the Coalition Agreement ratified by the Congress – albeit more than 2 weeks later by a remote vote by Congress delegates – proved to be a final success for the centre/ centre left faction, repelling efforts (for example) to provide what would amount to a pure nepotism position in the National Institutions to Benjamin Netanyahu’s son, Yair, and specifically prohibiting any role in the governance of the WZO and National Institutions by the likes of Itamar Ben Gvir and his racist Otzma Yehudit thugs.

The ability to achieve these successes – and they are indeed tangible and real successes for sanity and a path forward to more sanity – is in major part thanks to the participation of hundreds of thousands of Jews worldwide in the election and selection of their national delegates.   My personal thanks to our Jewish community in Alberta, who (singularly amongst Canadian provinces) voted primarily to select delegates to the Congress who promoted the principles of our Conservative/Masorti movement, and whose votes propelled me to be able to attend the Congress to voice (until I pretty much had none left) those principles.  To literally be ‘in the room where it happened’.

In the end, while the ‘parliament of the Jewish people’ has now spoken, through the resolutions passed at the 39^th World Zionist Congress, it is clear that our Jewish world (in Israel and in the Diaspora) has much work to do to match the plea of Israel’s President Isaac Herzog at the Opening Ceremonies, where he welcomed us all as ‘Am Echad’ – one people – but implored us to be more than that; to be a ‘united people. And so, back to work.  On the LRT (in Edmonton and in Jerusalem) and on the path to unity of our ‘Am Echad.’

Am Yisrael Chai.