The World Labor Zionist Alliance and other groups in the liberal-Zionist bloc rejected Yesh Atid’s call for other factions to join in withdrawing from the World Zionist Organization (WZO) and others among the National Institutions, with the Labor slate stating on Friday that it was in favor of “reform” rather than “retreat.”
World Labor Zionist Alliance global chair Kenneth Bob shared the criticisms voiced by Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid in a Wednesday announcement, regarding “outdated structures, political appointments, and ethical lapses within these institutions,” but said that “withdrawal is not the answer.”
Lapid had cited the prevalent WZO nepotism and clientelism – culminating in the October 29 proposal to appoint the prime minister’s son, Yair Netanyahu, to the WZO executive board – as a chief motivating factor for his party’s withdrawal, but Bob argued that the Netanyahu nomination should serve as a rally cry rather than a call to surrender.
“The recent Yair Netanyahu appointment scandal, a disgraceful example of political cronyism and contempt for public trust, underscores precisely why reform is so urgent,” Bob said. “Yet this incident should serve as a call to action – not a pretext for abandonment. Surrendering our seats at the table only empowers those who would use these institutions to entrench inequality, expand settlements, and divert public resources for partisan gain.”
Bob warned that Yesh Atid was walking away from positions in the National Institutions that would have placed the centrist party in a position to foster reforms, noting that MK Meir Cohen was poised to become Jewish National Fund (JNF) chairman in the three scuttled World Zionist Congress (WZC) coalition agreements.
Relationships threatened by Yesh Atid's withdrawal
Yesh Atid’s withdrawal not only threatened relations with Diaspora partners that see the National Institutions as a bridge between them and Israel but, according to Bob, would allow right-wing blocs greater sway within the bodies.
“Moral purity achieved through withdrawal is a hollow victory when it hands control to the Right,” Bob said. “The strategic danger of this decision cannot be overstated. The right-wing bloc, including ultra-Orthodox and far Right factions, continues in its attempts to dominate the National Institutions.”
Bob noted that the Center-Left bloc had succeeded in promoting liberal resolutions, including limiting JNF budgets for settlement initiatives. This included a resolution to prevent WZO from funding any Gaza or E1 area West Bank settlement initiatives.
The latter resolution had caused an uproar in the convention, with right-wing factions leaving the hall to undermine the legality of a vote by removing a required quorum. Bob told The Jerusalem Post last Sunday that WZC had determined that enough delegates were present for the resolution to have passed.
“These achievements prove that progress is possible from within, through persistence and coalition-building,” Bob said.
Several slates told the Post on Thursday that the WZC coalition agreement negotiations would continue without Yesh Atid.
Lapid had argued that the National Institutions had proven too corrupt, saying that it was not possible to influence them from within.
“I call on the other political parties to reconsider whether they are willing to be part of an agreement that is so clearly an act of corruption and dirty politicking,” he said. “We, in any case, will not be there.”
Lapid’s move collapsed the third WZC coalition agreement, which had been hammered out on Tuesday night, despite a concurrent delegate vote to approve the second coalition agreement.
Right-wing factions had called for delaying the vote and returning to the first agreement, arguing that the second agreement was not based on a broad enough consensus.
The second deal was created through engagement with a different Likud faction than the first agreement, after Culture Minister Miki Zohar’s Likud faction had proposed the younger Netanyahu for the executive. Yesh Atid and other factions called the proposal a “red line,” and the WZC deal collapsed. Instead of voting on the agreement, WZC voted to technically extend the convention by two weeks – an extension that is set to end this Wednesday.