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Democracy & Reform Judaism Under
Threat in Israel: How You Can Help

Find information about upcoming trainings,
campaign events,and more ways
to get involved.

Get involved in the World Zionist Congress.

HHD

WZC 2025 High Holiday Resource

Use these tools to raise awareness, fight for a democratic, pluralistic, Israel and preserve a path to peace.

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Take Action

Help to advance our shared Reform Jewish values and protect and strengthen Israel’s democracy.

Learn How

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Talk for A Change

Use #Talkforachange resources to bring people together and foster open conversation, even around difficult topics.

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What is WZC?

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Reform Judaism and our vision of Israel as a democratic, pluralistic state face historic challenges. Ultra-Orthodox rabbis and extreme politicians control key levers of power and aim to relegate Reform Jews, women, LGBTQ+ Israelis, and ethnic minorities to secondary status.

The next chapter of Israeli and Jewish history is about to unfold. Do you want to be written out of it, or at the table writing it? Join thousands of Reform Jews in mobilizing for the WORLD ZIONIST CONGRESS ELECTIONS 2025.

This is your opportunity to strengthen democracy and equity in Israel. While Israelis fight to keep their borders secure, you can act to secure Israel as a democratic state. Your vote directly impacts resources and funding for Reform synagogues, rabbis, and advocacy, ensuring Israel remains a robust democracy, committed to religious pluralism, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and a clearer path to peace.

Together, we can advocate for an Israel that reflects our commitment to democracy, equality, and inclusion. WE NEED YOU!

What is the WZC?

Controlling an annual budget of over $1 billion, the World Zionist Congress, which represents Jewish communities from around the world, meets every five years to:

Set policies that affect the status of Reform Jews in Israel and millions of Israelis
Make decisions that influence hundreds of millions of dollars in spending
Influence construction projects and therefore the choice between settlement expansion or a path to peace, and ensuring investment in communities destroyed on October 7^th

Learn More

More votes = more delegates, and more delegates = more resources and funding (1)

What is the WZC?

The World Zionist Congress (WZC) – also known as the Parliament of the Jewish People – is the democratically-elected legislative body representing world Jewry. This powerful institution has a $1 billion annual budget, a vast array of real estate holdings, and plays a critical role in securing Israel’s future.

The WZC meets every five years in Jerusalem to:

Choose the leadership of the Israeli National Institutions: The World Zionist Organization, KKL-JNF (the Israeli Jewish National Fund), and the Jewish Agency for Israel.
Make decisions that influence hundreds of millions of dollars in spending
Set policies that affect the status of Reform and Progressive Jews in Israel

FAQs

Take Action

Here’s what you can do right now to support a free, democratic, and secure Israel.

Urge Congress to Prioritize Release of the Hostages Held in Gaza

On July 24, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, addressed a joint session of Congress. The speech – his first to Congress since 2015 – comes as over 100 hostages taken by Hamas on October 7th remain captive in Gaza. American support and leadership toward securing the release of all hostages is vital. Members of Congress must heed the voices of the hostages’ family members who believe that a new, negotiated ceasefire is the most effective way for those still held to be freed.

Write to Congress

Israel Talk for a Change

A training to learn how to have conversation about Israel in your community-with those who share your views and those who don’t. Learn a set of guidelines and best practices for engaging in tough conversation to keep the focus on our values and experiences instead of headlines and divisive talking points.

Commit to hosting a Talk for a Change conversation in your congregation/community by filling out this quick form.

Watch the Training

Join the Campaign

Now it is time to take action.

We are building a powerful and uplifting campaign to mobilize North American Jews to vote in the 2025 WZC elections for a democratic, pluralistic, and secure Israel.

Our campaign represents our deepest shared values and will help us to be a part of writing the next chapter of Jewish history together.

We will turn out an unprecedented number of voters in the 2025 WZC Election to vote for our Reform values and fight against our anti-democratic opponents who seek to tear down the rights of all in Israel who do not share their beliefs.

Will you join us?

Yes! I want to Join!

Toolkits

We are at a turning point in Jewish history. The voices and activism of the Reform Jewish community in North America has never been more crucial. The past few months prove that what happens in Israel impacts all Jews. For the first time in many of our lives we fear for the existential survival of a Jewish state. We are facing rising levels of anti-Semitism in America – especially impacting our young people.

Our partners on the ground in Israel, the Israeli Reform Movement, are fighting every day to support and sustain a community at war and in trauma, while standing strong for Israeli democracy, pluralism, and a road to self-determination for Palestinians. They are asking for our voices and our help – our North American Reform Movement is committed to answering their call.

FAQs

What is the World Zionist Organization?  

The World Zionist Organization (WZO) was founded by Theodor Herzl at the First World Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland in 1897. Today, it 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 WZO utilizes the World Zionist Congress to establish its policies and internally elect leadership to the bodies that define executive policy, departmental direction, and budgetary decisions.

What is ARZA?

How does ARZA help Reform Judaism in Israel?  

ARZA provides the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) and the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) with financial support generated through individual membership dollars from members of URJ congregations. ARZA, and its umbrella organization ARZENU, represents Reform Judaism in the World Zionist Organization providing a strong voice for Reform Jews in America and our movement Israel in this worldwide organization.

ARZA’s mission is to make Israel fundamental to the sacred lives and Jewish identity of Reform Jews. ARZA champions activities that further Israel as a pluralistic, just, and democratic Jewish state.

How was ARZA’s representation in the WZC affected policy in Israel?
Due to our success in previous elections:

We were able to ensure that over $4,000,000 a year ($20 million over 5 years) of financial support goes to our movement in Israel.

We appointed key professionals to carry out our Reform Jewish values within the National Institutions that help implement the Reform values of equality, pluralism, and a commitment to a Two-State Solution.

We join with Israeli political parties to influence Israeli society in matters of conversion, marriage and divorce, religious pluralism, gender rights, and combating racism.

We have passed key resolutions in the World Zionist Organization’s policy body for equality, transparency, and pluralism.

Even in the terrible days since October 7th, we have seen the importance of our democracy work in Israel with the IMPJ and IRAC. The issues we fight for have crucial implications for the overall safety of Israel and for marginalized individuals within Israeli society:
- Our fight for LGBTQ+ rights has led to the same-sex partners of fallen soldiers receiving crucial death benefits for the first time.
- Our advocacy for religious pluralism has seen a growing outcry for patrilineal Jews fallen in battle or murdered by terrorists on 10/7 to receive a full Jewish burial inside Jewish cemeteries, rather than being degraded in death and buried outside the fence.
- Our movement’s long battle for gender equity in Israel has led to the advancement of women in the IDF (an important pathway to social/economic advancement in Israeli society). This war has proven the capability and heroism of female combat soldiers who were among the first to rescue civilians and defeat terrorists on 10/7.

How does the WZC support our values?
The funds allocated through the WZC help Reform congregations and communities on the ground in Israel. Organizations like the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) and the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) depend on these funds to stand up for civil and human rights in Israel and to expand their reach in Israeli society.

Their work:
- supports Reform rabbis and congregations
- offers humanitarian aid, inclusive housing for people with disabilities, and programs that empower women
- provides counseling and other services for over 20,000 Reform Jews in Israel each year
- fights discrimination among marginalized groups of Israeli society through the Israel Religious Action Center, representing up to 500 people a year in court.
Through our representation in the National Institutions, we support Israel and help protect our most deeply held beliefs and values.

Why is it important to participate in the WZC elections?

What’s at stake in the 2025 WZC election?
We are fighting against a motivated and disciplined movement whose vision for the future of Israel stands in direct opposition to our values of democracy, pluralism, freedom, and security.

Our anti-democratic opponents are organizing against us with plans to strike down the issues we care about most. If they win, they will:
- chip away at Israel’s democracy
- roll back gains for LGBTQ+ rights, gender equity, and religious pluralism
- strip our Israeli Reform clergy and communities of their rights and funding, and make sure that our converts and children are not welcome in the Jewish state
- block any hope of Palestinian self-determination and safety.
They want to write the next chapter of Jewish history and write us out of it. Our extremist, anti-democratic opponents are organizing now to win an even larger number of WZC seats in 2025. There is no question that, if unchecked, they will exercise their power to tear down the rights of Reform Jews and all others in Israel who do not share their beliefs.

Our core values of pursuing justice demand that we cannot let that happen. We are committed to an unprecedented and audacious campaign to organize and mobilize turnout for the 2025 WZC vote.

We need your help to ensure that they do not succeed. Learn more about how you can join the campaign