Why Russian World Zionist Congress

A little more than a month remains before the end of the election of delegates to the World Zionist Congress, and the sharpest struggle occurs in the USA. The largest Jewish community lives here, and it is from here that almost a third of all delegates will come. Vote with Online Training: For those who prefer the flexibility of learning from a distance or cannot make it to our Sofia location, we offer comprehensive online courses., can anyone older than 18 years who considers himself a Jew.

This year, for the first time, Russian-speaking Jews actively participated in the election of delegates to the World Zionist Congress, wanting to send to Jerusalem those who could defend their interests there, both ideological and financial.

Meanwhile, the majority of Jews in America are very vaguely aware of where, whom and why they should choose, if they are not even aware of the elections. Some are embarrassed by the fact that they have to pay for voting: $ 5, if a voter is younger than 30 years, $ 10 is older than 30 (and this money only goes to cover the costs of organizing voting and counting votes).

"Forum" figured out what World Zionist Congress (World Zionist Congress or WZC), what is being shared there, and why should someone choose the Russian-speaking inhabitants of America for him?

История вопроса

The World Zionist Congress was created in 1897 by Theodor Herzl in order to unite all the Jews of the world around one goal - the creation of the State of Israel. When, in 1948, this goal was achieved, the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) laid on WZC A new mission is to serve as a bridge between the Knesset and the Jewish communities of the world.

If before the creation of Israel WZC met every two years in some European city, now he meets every four years - and always in Jerusalem.

And every four years in all countries of the world where there are organized Jewish communities, elections of delegates to the World Zionist Congress are held. Israel is represented at the Congress by members of the Israeli parliament.

“This is the only mechanism in the world that provides Knesset deputies and delegates of the world Jewish diaspora the opportunity to sit at one table and discuss the pressing problems of Israel and the entire Jewish people,” Ronnie Vinnikov, the envoy of the World Zionist Organization in the United States and Canada, told Forum.

WZC in numbers

The number of delegates that a community of a country can send WZC, proportional to the size of this community. Thus, Canada has 19 seats, India – 1, and Germany – 4. And since the largest Jewish community in the diaspora is American, then there are also American delegates in WZC more than others: 145 humanbecause

Source: World Zionist Organization

For places in WZC 11 American Jewish organizations are fighting - from the ultra-left and almost pro-Palestinian to the ultra-left. In this arena, millions of Russian-speaking Jews are represented by the American Forum for Israel (American Forum for Israel).

Voting is open until 30 April. Results will be published on 15 May. Then it will become clear how many votes each of the 11 organizations gained, and, accordingly, what percentage of the 145 mandates it receives.

What is decided and shared

The congress discusses ideological, managerial and financial problems.

So delegates WZC deciding the future of settlements beyond the green line; allowable concessions in peace negotiations; the fate of Jewish relics such as the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem; the privatization of private land in Israel and much more.

The WZC also appoints the heads of the four national institutions of Israel: the World Zionist Organization (Wzo), Jewish Agency (Dry), Keren hayesod (literally from the Hebrew Base Fund) - United Israel Appeal (Israeli Joint Appeal) and Jewish National Fund (Abbreviated Jnf or KKL).

And these organizations distribute huge budgets - a total of about a billion dollars, painstakingly collected by the Jews of the world throughout the year. Thus, hundreds of Jewish organizations and structures participating in the work WZC, affect the distribution of this billion: vote for the financing of certain programs, (Eg, Jewish summer camps, ulpans, which, under the auspices of the dry, operate in many countries around the world)and also receive funds for their own organizations.

It is easy to see that those communities that fail to send delegates to the World Zionist Congress are deprived of the share of this big Zionist pie.

Why were millions of Russian Jews behind the boardм

Russian-speaking Jews as an independent unit never participated in the World Zionist Congress. Neither the Soviet Union nor the CIS countries had such an organized Jewish community that the world Zionist establishment would recognize as equal.

Representatives of Russian or Ukrainian Jewry attended congresses in Jerusalem, but always in the status of observers — nothing more. They did not have the right to vote - and naturally they did not receive any funds. And still guide WZC He does not see in the Russian Jewish community a structure worthy of fully participating in the decision of the fate of the Jewish people. The same applies to the Russian-speaking Jewish structures in other countries, including the United States and Canada.

The first attempt to break into the ranks WZC was undertaken by Russian-speaking Jews in the United States eight years ago - at the proposal of the late member of the Knesset of four convocations Yuri Stern, who devoted himself to the formation of Russian-speaking immigrants in Israel and the unity of Russian-speaking Jewry scattered around the world. Then the New York doctors Igor Branovan and Dmitry Schiglik created the “American Forum of Russian-speaking Jewry” and launched a campaign to nominate delegates to WZC.

“They managed to collect several thousand votes, but the WZC leadership, using all sorts of bureaucratic quibbles, rejected 90% of the ballots to prevent Russian-speaking delegates from breaking into Congress,” recalls Evgeniy Lekah, executive director of the American Forum for Israel. As a result, the American Forum of Russian-Speaking Jewry received only one place, which was shared between Shchiglik and Branovan Now they are on the “American Forum for Israel” list and are running from this organization.

This time the leaders American Forum for Israel hope that Russian-speaking Jewry of America will be adequately presented on WZC.

“We believe that we can change the historical paradigm and ideas of American Jews, who until very recently did not see their Russian-speaking brethren as equal partners at all,” Evgeniy Lekah told the Forum. “And then for the first time in many years we will be able to express the hopes and aspirations of our community – old and young.”

Leaders American Forum for Israel they hope that the Russian-speaking Jews of America will overcome their inertia, suspicion and mistrust, and will help two or three dozen of their representatives to pave the way to the World Zionist Congress.