World Zionist Organization chairman Yaakov Hagoel may have a pathway to remain in power. World Zionist Congress coalition negotiations continued into the early hours of Thursday.
Negotiations for positions and portfolios in the WZO’s national institutions stalled on Wednesday after Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar (Likud) tried to advance the appointment of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s son, Yair, to the WZO board.
The WZC had voted to extend the convention by two weeks with remote electronic voting for the positions after it got late and Thursday’s programming was canceled over haredi (ultra-Orthodox) protests in Jerusalem over the IDF draft bill.
The negotiations could result in a rotating chairmanship with Hagoel and World Mizrachi CEO Rabbi Doron Perez alternating, according to several WZO sources, but nothing was close to being finalized.
Perez had been set to share the role with a Yesh Atid member in the previous agreement, and Yesh Atid MK Meir Cohen and a Likud member had been set to chair the Jewish National Fund in another rotation.
The previous proceedings saw Hagoel excluded from a proposed agreement in favor of Zohar’s rival Likud Israel faction. Likud Israel has been in a leadership dispute with Hagoel’s World Likud faction, which reportedly weakened the negotiation position of the Right.
Several delegates said their slates had negotiated separately and came to different agreements with Likud factions.
Zohar’s faction had celebrated the exclusion of Hagoel, but following their proposal to put Yair Netanyahu on the WZO board, the several blocs established the appointment of the prime minister’s son as a redline.
The “proposed appointment of Yair Netanyahu is unacceptable,” WZO vice chairman and MERCAZ senior representative Dr. Yizhar Hess said Thursday.
“Yesterday, we at the national institutions were on the cusp of an historic, balanced agreement that would have united the Jewish people and positioned us to meet the challenges facing Israel and the Jewish world,” he said. “As we saw in the reactions of dismay and shock on the Congress floor, representatives of the liberal-pluralistic camp raised their voices and made clear that we will only sign an agreement that is balanced and unites Israel and the Jewish people.
“A deal that hands Yair Netanyahu any position in the national institutions is clearly not that and is not an option. We and our partners continue to work, including throughout last night, to shape a balanced final agreement that reflects our values.”
Yesh Atid: 'We will not sign any agreement that includes Netanyahu'
Yesh Atid had threatened to scuttle the deal on Wednesday.
“We heard with astonishment the despicable decision to appoint Yair Netanyahu to a senior position in the Zionist institutions,” Yesh Atid said in a statement. “Yesh Atid will not sign any such agreement in the national institutions.”
Zohar was backed by the prime minister in his bid for leadership of World Likud, which had devolved into a power struggle between him and Hagoel. World Likud had rejected Zohar’s call last Friday to hold elections, claiming that rushing to hold a convention before the WZC would harm the democratic process.
There had been multiple delays in holding an election throughout the year, with both sides asserting that the other was responsible and afraid of losing.
At the WZC resolution plenary on Wednesday night, the executive introduced a new constitutional amendment to expand the WZO executive board from 14 positions to 24.