A World Zionist Congress coalition agreement for the positions and portfolios in Israel’s National Institutions was adopted by the World Zionist Organization executive committee on Monday night, potentially bringing an extended several-week negotiation saga to an end.
The agreement will see World Mizrachi CEO Rabbi Doron Perez become the WZO president, a normally ceremonial role that will reportedly now expand to engage in matters of budget and Diaspora relations.
Incumbent WZO chairman and World Likud head Yaakov Hagoel will retain his position, rotating with a member of the Liberal Zionist bloc for the second term. The alternate chairperson will be elected at a later date, according to the WZO.
WZO vice chairman and MERCAZ senior representative, Dr. Yizhar Hess, will also retain his position.
This is the fourth agreement to be struck between WZC slates since the convention was held last week of October.
WZO negotiations saga
The first agreement collapsed on October 29 when Hagoel’s rival Likud faction proposed Yair Netanyahu as a WZO executive member. Yesh Atid and other slates set the inclusion of the prime minister’s son as a red line. Netanyahu does not appear to be included in the fourth agreement.
With the failure to adopt a deal by the end of a truncated WZC convention, delegates voted to extend the negotiation period by two weeks.
A second agreement was established, and the WZO called a vote for the following Sunday, but Right-leaning slates demanded a return to the first agreement. The vote was extended and made obsolete by renewed negotiations, and a third agreement was struck.
The third agreement collapsed on November 5 when Yesh Atid withdrew from the deal, declaring that the National Institutions were corrupt, nepotistic, and clientelist.
Then, the vote results were announced on November 11, but they were irrelevant, as negotiations were already underway without Yesh Atid. A day later, World Mizrachi announced that a new deal had finally been reached.
Yesh Atid has been beset by internal strife since leader Yair Lapid announced his withdrawal from the National Institutions and called for their nationalization.
Walla reported on Monday that senior Yesh Atid member Gil Segal left the party following a warning issued about rumors that he was going to take a position at one of the National Institutions.
On November 12, Yesh Atid warned that if Segal accepted the chairmanship of the Jewish National Fund, it would mean he was leaving the party and that potential corruption would need to be considered. The statement added that the party did not believe that Segal was “part of this.”
Walla had reported that Lapid regretted the choice of words and Segal’s departure.
On Thursday, another leading member, Gadi Meiri, announced that he was leaving Yesh Atid but would also not accept a position at the JNF. Meiri said that instead of combating corruption, Lapid had chosen to abandon the National Institutions to corrupt individuals. He defended the JNF, saying it was not corrupt and that many of its staff worked to improve Israeli society.
“Unlike the government, the opposition factions had a majority in the National Institutions, and it was only because of this that we were able to realize our values there in recent years,” wrote Meiri.
“During this term, Yesh Atid’s power even increased, and we were able to hold the position of chairman of the JNF and contribute greatly to Israeli society,” he added.
“There is no logical explanation for your decision to give up the only power you had as the head of the opposition in Israel, to turn Yesh Atid’s back on all our members in the liberal stream, and to leave them helpless against parts of the Likud, the haredim [ultra-Orthodox], and the Smotrichs who became the biggest beneficiaries of this decision,” Meiri wrote.
Further, he slammed Lapid for not discussing the matter with Yesh Atid’s representatives to the National Institutions, instead informing them of the decision by a WhatsApp text message.