The 39th World Zionist Congress that opened in Jerusalem on Thursday ended its first session with a huge explosion between left- and right-wing delegates representing world and Israeli Jewry. In the end, 16 votes on hot-button issues such as the judicial reform and the grandson clause in the Law of Return were postponed until next week.
The First Zionist Congress was held in 1897 in Basel, Switzerland, with Theodor Herzl as chairman. It was attended by some 200 delegates who formulated the Zionist platform, known as the Basel Program, and established the Zionist Organization (ZO). 126 years later (they say it’s 125 years, but we did the math), the same organization, with Yaakov Hagoel as its chairman, the Zionist Congress may be a historic relic to most Jews in Israel and abroad, but it was this relic where the democratic foundations of the Jewish State were established, which is why Thursday’s explosion represents its unexpected vitality.
Delegates to the World Zionist Congress chant “shame” at the stage as World Likud tries to stall the voting by running down the clock on resolutions about, LGBT Rights, Reform conversion and opposition to the judicial overhaul where they don’t have the numbers. pic.twitter.com/cHEkaU7HKg
— Ittay Flescher (@ittay78) April 20, 2023
The leftist factions proposed a resolution condemning the Netanyahu government’s judicial reform, which was not loved by Chairman Hagoel (his last name means “the redeemer”), who happens to come from the Likud party. The Mizrahi delegates proposed changes in Israel’s Law of Return, specifically the Grandson Clause which recognizes non-Jews whose grandfather was halachically Jewish as eligible for Israeli citizenship. The left hated that one.
Chairman Hagoel saviored the day by calling for a name vote after the Mizrahi delegates submitted a written petition with dozens of signatures. It was a brilliant solution, so brilliant, in fact, that the leftist delegates walked out in protest. That’s because, a. there are 616 delegates, so a name vote on each of the 16 pending resolutions would have taken hours; and, b. some delegates did not want to come out officially in favor or against some resolutions because they knew their communities back home would not like their choices.
More than 2,000 diaspora Jews are attending the WZC sessions, when they’re not out enjoying Israel’s surprisingly mild April weather. They come from 40 countries (we didn’t count, but let’s take their word for it), and, most important – whatever they finally decide is completely meaningless in terms of influencing Israeli parliamentary decisions, though decisions by the World Zionist Congress does impact the allocation of tremendous amounts of funding to Jewish/Israel programming all over the world.
But they do mean something in the context of Israel’s efforts to maintain its ties with a progressively unfriendly new generation of diaspora Jews. This is why Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid and judicial reform architect in the Knesset MK Simcha Rothman will speak to this crowd (in separate events).
After the establishment of the State of Israel, the influence of the Zionist congresses was greatly diminished. The sessions were moved from Switzerland to Jerusalem where they continue for three working days. The 23rd Congress was the first to assemble in Jerusalem, in 1951. Back then, the congresses expressed the concern of world Jewry for Israel’s security and the absorption of the huge aliya wave, opening the gates of the Soviet Union, and stopping assimilation.
Eric David Fingerhut, the CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America, said on Thursday: “Our arrival in Israel this week is an expression of our constant love for Israel that transcends any controversy or political discussion.”
World Zionist Congress, Jerusalem:
Delegates from around the world calling “SHAME” on Likud reps for filibustering the adoption of all resolutions. Most of the resolution submissions call for the Israeli government to halt the attempted judicial overhaul. It’s wild. #wzo75 pic.twitter.com/C0661iyc0v— Danny Brown Wolf (@Dannyhbrown) April 20, 2023
As long as all the delegates remember this, we’ll be OK. But if they hope to intervene directly in Israeli politics on either side of the aisle (some delegates (see tweet above) yelled, “Shame, shame, shame” the battle cry of the anarchists blocking the country’s highways) – they should be made aware that as non-citizens, their opinions just don’t count.
Anarchists and protesters outside the hall where MK Simcha Rothman is speaking. Police have been called in for his protection:
צירי הקונגרס הציוני שרים התקווה מחוץ לחדר שבו תקוע רוטמן pic.twitter.com/8ooCyieKvn
— Or-ly Barlev ~ אור-לי ברלב (@orlybarlev) April 21, 2023
עכשיו בישיבת הקונגרס הציוני וכל המסדרונות בבנייני האומה צועקים דמוקרטיה ושוויון זכויות.
חברי ליכוד וכל תומכי ה"רפורמה" נגד מגילת העצמאות, נגד ייצוג נשים ולהט"בים בקונגרס הציוני.
אף אחד לא יקח את הדמוקרטיה מאיתנו יהודי התפוצות בקונגרס הציוני אומרים דמוקרטיה ולא דיקטטורה. pic.twitter.com/irc6LUr3ib— demoz goveze (@DemozGoveze) April 21, 2023
