Israeli politics has been riddled by the bloc mentality for five election campaigns. The anti-Bibi and pro-Bibi blocs have not only made governance practically untenable through the ongoing quagmire of political stalemates, but have also created the two most extreme governments in Israel’s history.
The bloc mentality led to the unprecedented reality of a Muslim Brotherhood minister in the previous government and a neo-Kahanist minister in the current one.
This mentality has organized Israeli national politics into “us” and “them” – those who are with us and those who are against us.
Although divisive, this bloc mentality has persevered in national politics where there is a winner-take-all system. Indeed, any party or coalition who has the flimsiest of majorities, 61 of 120 members of parliament, forms a government and then wins all government ministries. So too, in the United States, with the two major parties, the one that wins the election takes every single ministerial position of the victorious administration. When the bloc wins even by the tiniest margin, the bloc dominates every leadership position.
The World Zionist Congress political system
THE POLITICAL system in the recently completed global election campaign of the World Zionist Congress (WZO) is completely different. The nature of the system is one of consensus – of a wall-to-wall agreement – with all parties across the ideological divide signing together on one broad-based power-sharing leadership coalition. Everyone gets a piece of the pie, based on each one’s relative size.
This fair system of proportional leadership representation exists in arguably the most diverse Jewish organization in the world, both geographically and ideologically.
Geographically, the WZO is represented by a very broad swath of geographies across 42 countries . The WZO’s congress is divided as follows: 40% constituted by the Israeli electorate through the Knesset, 30% by the American Zionist movement, and 30% by the Zionist Federations in the rest of the world.
Ideologically, the constituent members range from ultra-liberal and ultra-progressive communities on the Left to ultra-nationalistic and ultra-Orthodox communities on the Right, creating a very diverse Jewish Zionist global ecosystem.
Since the WZO system is one of power sharing and a wall-to-wall coalition agreement, every member party must sign together in order to be part of the WZO leadership coalition.
Unfortunately and unnecessarily, bloc-type thinking, in recent years, has dominated the politics of the national institutions. Hard Left and hard Right blocs tend to form, with each bloc trying to get a flimsy majority and then forcing less favorable terms and conditions on those who are not part of that initial majority.
It is high time, in my opinion, to drop this bloc mentality in the WZO for three salient reasons. Firstly, as mentioned, the ethos of this organization is that everyone signs together and there is no winner-take-all culture. All parties ultimately have to fairly divide the leadership positions based on each one’s proportional size, such is the healthy DNA of this organization.
SECONDLY, A catastrophic and cataclysmic event transpired on October 7, 2023. We no longer live in the same world nor the same Israel. Today, we all understand who the real enemy is: Hamas, Hezbollah, the mullahs in Iran, and their global supporters who aim to destroy Israel.
In a post-October 7 reality, it is absolutely clear who the enemy is and who the “us” and “them” are.
Fellow Jews and fellow Israelis are certainly not the enemy. Political opponents may vehemently and legitimately disagree, but none are enemies of the people or the state. We are one people with one heart forged by a mutual covenant of fate . Our enemies do not discern between a left-wing and a right-wing Jew, between religious or secular, between Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, or ultra-Orthodox streams. To our enemies, a Jew is a Jew.
Furthermore, it is not clear today what the difference between many on the Right and Left is. The traditional left- and right-wing blocs have come tumbling down in many aspects. One current example is the Knesset’s recent and almost across-the-board rejection of Palestinian statehood. Almost everyone in Israel understands that until the pay-to-slay policy of the Palestinian Authority is removed and their education system is totally deradicalized, no Palestinian state can be considered by anyone.
Thirdly, the World Zionist Organization is not the Knesset. It has no jurisdiction to decide on the most painful and divisive issues roiling Israel.
It does not decide on hostage deals, judicial reform, the status of Judea and Samaria, ultra-Orthodox draft, or issues of religion and state. They are the most difficult and painful issues to navigate and only the Knesset has the authority to decide them .
The Zionist movement has a different, yet no less critical purview, especially today. The jurisdiction of the World Zionist Movement is to defend and develop Zionism around the world. To highlight the inextricable link between Judaism and Zionism – of the centrality of Jewish statehood to Jewish destiny.
I believe the Zionist movement is situated at a historic juncture.
TODAY, ZIONISM is under threat more than any other Jewish value. The moral legitimacy of the existence of a Jewish sovereign entity anywhere between the river and the sea is being challenged and invalidated. The very existence of Israel is in question.
The antisemitic genie is out of the bottle with a virulent strain of Jew-hatred in the form of anti-Zionism spreading wildly across the globe. Israel has been under threat on seven fronts, and Jewish communities everywhere feel under siege.
This is the time for the Zionist movement to step up, raise our game, and come together as one. Unified in our diversity, we must proactively advocate for and educate about the critical role of Zionism and Jewish statehood to both Jewish and human destiny.
Now is the time for Jewish Zionists everywhere to stand together as one bloc for the sake of our combined future.
As of the writing of these lines, my son Capt. Daniel Perez, of blessed memory, is one of the 48 hostages still cruelly held in Gaza – along with tank crew members, Itai Chen, of blessed memory, and Matan Angrest, who should live and be well, and who should return home speedily with all the hostages.
When we say, “Together we will win,” the emphasis has to be on “together.” Only together will we be able to return all our hostages and only together will we be able to defeat, disarm, and dismantle Hamas.
It is time to “unbloc” the bloc mentality at a time when the Jewish people desperately need to come together as one in a global Jewish Zionist community to defend, advocate, and educate toward the moral legitimacy of a Jewish state, and the transformative role it ought to play for our collective future.
Too much depends on it.
The writer, a rabbi, is the chairman of the World Mizrachi Movement.