ARZA/Vote Reform and Reconstructionist Movement Wins the World Zionist Congress Election!
The World Zionist Congress is the legislative body of the World Zionist Organization (WZO), which serves as the Parliament of the Jewish People, and designates representatives to The Jewish Agency for Israel, The Jewish National Fund, and other affiliates. The Congress meets every five years in Jerusalem, and it is the only body in which all of World Jewry is represented democratically. These decisions influence hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and paid portfolios.
Because of all of your efforts, ARZA was able to garner 31,500 votes, an increase of nearly 50% from the 2015 election. We are in the position lead a powerful progressive block, and we will continue to work in the name of our Reform values: pluralism, equality, and freedom.
“The election results demonstrate the strength of our platform, and the Vote Reform slate is ready and eager to help build a democratic society in Israel that truly reflects the Jewish values we hold dear: pluralism, equality, economic justice, and peace,” says said Rabbi Josh Weinberg, URJ’s vice president for Israel and Reform Zionism and the executive director of ARZA, the Association of Reform Zionists of America.
Thank you to everyone who voted for our slate and showed support for our campaign. We could not have done this without your help.
Here’s to continuing the momentum! Check out the official election results below.
Voting for U.S. representatives to the World Zionist Congress (WZC), the international “parliament of the Jewish people,” ended on March 11, 2020 and was conducted primarily online at ZionistElection.org with thousands of paper ballots also sent in by postal mail. The results below are preliminary, including mailed ballots received to-date, and are subject to final certification by VOTEM, the election management company that is tallying the votes.
The seven-week US election for the World Zionist Congress garnered over 120,000 votes, more than double the turnout of the last election in 2015 and the highest number of votes since the election began for the entire American Jewish community 30 years ago. A total of 15 slates, comprised of nearly 1,800 candidates, were vying for 152 American seats for the Congress during the election organized and facilitated in the US by the American Zionist Movement (AZM). After the votes are certified the number of delegates per slate will be apportioned using a formula outlined in the official election rules which can be found here. The 38th World Zionist Congress is scheduled to be held in Jerusalem from October 20-22, 2020.
| SLATE | VOTES |
| Vote Reform | 31,500 |
| Orthodox Israel Coalition – Mizrachi | 21,698 |
| Eretz Hakodesh | 20,023 |
| MERCAZ USA | 14,666 |
| ZOA Coalition | 10,313 |
| American Forum for Israel | 8,132 |
| Hatikvah | 7,932 |
| Shas Olami | 2,046 |
| Kol Yisrael | 1,752 |
| Dorshei Torah V’Tziyon | 1,373 |
| Herut Zionists | 1,157 |
| Vision | 1,036 |
| Americans4Israel | 857 |
| Israel Shelanu | 769 |
| Ohavei Zion | 375 |
| 2020 TOTAL | 123,629 |