After the previous World Zionist Congress collapsed due to a Likud faction’s proposal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Yair Netanyahu as an executive, a new WZC agreement that will likely not welcome Netanyahu is being voted on from Sunday morning until Tuesday, but right-leaning slates have called for a delay in the vote to officiate World Zionist Organization positions and return to the negotiation table.
The WZC proposal opened to voting at 9 a.m. with a deal that didn’t name the prime minister’s son, but would elect two members to the executive on behalf of “Likud in the National Institutions” – a provision that would make it unlikely for the prime minister’s son to be appointed.
A WZO source said that this provision made the vote a referendum on Yair Netanyahu’s inclusion on the executive, with the other option to return to negotiate with Culture Minister Miki Zohar’s Likud faction.
A petition to stop the vote was submitted to the WZO Zionist Supreme Court by several slates, including Mizrachi, the Likud “in the National Institutions,” and Shas, but was partially rejected. The court determined that the vote would go ahead, but its results would be kept confidential until the respondents, including Hagoel and WZO, could reply.
Collapse of the original agreement, calls to delay the vote
World Mizrachi, Eretz Hakodesh, Shas, Aish Ha’am, Am Yisrael Chai, a Likud faction, the Religious Zionists, and Israel 365 are among the slates calling for a delay in the vote. Mizrachi and Aish Ha’am are calling for a broader and more inclusive agreement with all the slates and factions, while Shas and Eretz Hakodesh are calling for a return to the original Wednesday agreement. Several WZO sources claimed that the Prime Minister’s Office had pushed for right-wing factions to cancel the vote.
The collapse of the Wednesday agreement due to Zohar’s proposal to place Yair Netanyahu on the executive favored the minister’s Likud faction, but the new agreement would see his rival WZO chairman and World Likud head Yaakov Hagoel share the WZO chairmanship with World Mizrachi CEO Rabbi Doron Perez.
If the vote proceeds, it could approve Perez as WZO chairman from November until April 30, 2028, and for Hagoel to resume his chairmanship from May 1, 2028. WZO vice chairman and MERCAZ senior representative Dr. Yizhar Hess would retain his position.
The WZO executive would include Bella Lvovich, Masha Lubelsky, Yair Lootsteen, Jackie Levy, Ifat Ovadia-Luski, Nechemia Malinowitz, Yishai Merling, Dror Morag, Hagay Mayorek, Na’ama Mashinsky, Silvina Sosna, Charles Kaufman, Rob Kurtz, David Kornfeld, Ronit Snir, Eliran Shmuel-Chai, Yaron Shavit, Israel Schwebel, Carol Ann Shwartz, Yoav Teeni, and Itzhak Dahan.
In another rotation, Yaakov Derai, Anat Vidor, Dina Hahn, Silvio Joskowicz, Hagoel, and Netanel Perez would be on the executive until April 20, 2028. Sergio Edelstein, Shimon Ohayon, Mauricio Balter, Tammy Gottlieb, Gael Grunewald, and Avraham Greenvald would be on the executive from May 1, 2028.
While Keren Hayesod chairman Sam Grundwerg reportedly communicated that he was not interested in serving another term, he consented to a short extension of his time in office, as the executive said that it didn’t succeed in forming committees for proposing candidates. During the extension, the executive would search for chair candidates.
WZO comptroller Steven Stav would be reappointed if the vote passes.
Yesh Atid MK Meir Cohen and a Likud member are set to chair the Jewish National Fund in a rotation, which the JNF is set to vote on in its own general assembly. Cohen had already announced that he would be leaving the Knesset with the blessing of Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid.
The return of Hagoel to the WZO chairmanship and executive would mark a dramatic return for the World Likud head after his faction had been excluded from a WZC coalition agreement in favor of a deal with Likud Israel head and Culture Minister Miki Zohar.
Zohar and Hagoel have been locked in an internal Likud dispute over the leadership of the World Likud, with Zohar demanding elections last Friday. Hagoel’s camp had rejected elections, ostensibly because rushing elections before the WZC would damage the democratic process. Both sides had accused the other of delaying elections throughout the year out of fear of losing, but sources have indicated that Hagoel’s position had weakened within the Likud.
The dispute between Likud factions and failure to hold elections led to a situation in which slates were negotiating separately with the Likud factions, and coming to separate agreements with them. Sources within the Center and Left camps stated that Likud had less leverage at the negotiating table because of the divided front.
While a coalition was reached with Zohar’s camp, the deal was scuttled on Wednesday night when the minister sought to advance Yair Netanyahu to become a WZO executive. Slates like Yesh Atid and MERCAZ drew a red line for the appointment of the prime minister’s son.
Perez had been set to rotate the WZO chairmanship with a Yesh Atid representative in the previous agreement.