This year more than 230,000 American Jews voted for the World Zionist Congress (WZC), also known as the “parliament of the Jewish people.” According to the American Zionist Movement, the turnout is an 86% increase over the 2020 elections. The top vote getter was the Vote Reform slate, representing the Reform movement.
According to Rabbi Lindsey Danziger, campaign manager for the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, the results represent a real victory for the movement. “Since October 7th there has been such a renewed interest in Israel. And people wonder in the Reform community, which tends to be progressive, would people still be willing to engage and turnout for the thing that says ‘Zionism’ and we showed that they were.” She says overall the Reform votes increased by 60% over the last elections.
Danziger says the vote indicates that Reform Judaism is compatible with Zionism. “We want a stake in Israel, and we want to fight for Israel’s future.” This despite opponents Danziger says argue Reform Jews are not real Jews. “We’re not real Jews, the way we practice Judaism is not legitimate.” She says this view motivated Reform Jews to vote in unprecedented numbers.
Some of the key issues for Reform voters, according to Danziger, was concern about the hostages. “We wanted to have a voice in Israel to prioritize bringing home the hostages,” she says. Other top issues that motivated Reform Jews included concerns about Jewish heritage and the legitimacy of non-Orthodox. “It’s the idea that there could be a future in Israel where our kids, our grandkids, those from patrilineal descent, those who’ve had conversions with Reform or Conservative or with modern Orthodox rabbis wouldn’t be able under the Law of Return to become Israeli.”
In addition to the Reform slate, there are several others, including Team ANU: A New Union. This slate describes itself as representing diverse, inter-generational lay and professional leaders seeking to build consensus through conversation. According to its website, the goals are, “To model a cross-denominational and multi-generational approach that elevates our shared goals and values above a partisanship which distracts our community from our pressing and immediate challenges.”
Erin Coleman, a board member for the Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville, is also a member of the ANU slate. She became activated to participate when a friend in Los Angeles reached about joining this new effort. “They wanted something that was more egalitarian, inclusive of every type of Jew, every section of religion, and everywhere in the country.” She says the process for becoming an official slate was grassroots and very arduous. Nevertheless, the new group acquired the necessary signatures.
Coleman is pleased with this year’s increased turnout, especially from Nashville, because it also means more local voices in determining how funds are used in Israel. “It’s really important that your voice is heard so that your voice can have power in Israel.” She says the grassroots effort paid off, with the brand-new slate receiving 1700 votes.
Also on one of the slates this year was Federation board member Fred Zimmerman. He was part of The Jewish Future, a slate representing what they say are centrist views. “We want to make sure as many people as possible are included in the discussions and trying to stake out a platform that will appeal to the greatest number of people,” he says. Among the slate’s top issues were support for the next generation, fighting antisemitism, rejecting extremism, and upholding Israel’s founding values.
Zimmerman says the outcome of this year’s WZC elections are a direct reflection of the political situation in Israel. Asked whether The Jewish Future slate could bridge the gap between Israel’s far left and far right, he says it is a possibility but might take another couple of election cycles. He says the bigger issue is the real-world effects on the ground and who is in power in Israel. “There’s a little bit of enlightened self-interest that goes on with these slates,” he says, “A lot of them have real world operations that are taken care of. That’s a good thing because they’re actually on the ground accomplishing things.” He says a big challenge for most of the slates is having the resources to achieve their individual mission.
Other slates represent both the Conservative and Orthodox perspectives. And as expected, the Orthodox slates received a sizable share of votes. Rabbi Saul Strosberg of Congregation Sherith Israel in Nashville, says the continuing strength of Orthodox influence is what is notable. “Reform Jews being both concerned about Israel and organized with their voices is nothing new, considering the domineering ultra-Orthodox political influence. To me, the novelty here, is the strong Orthodox votes that is a testament to both growing numbers and a strong sentiment of having the government continue to support the traditional Jewish infrastructure (to different degrees) and also the breadth of expressions of Orthodox life - just see how many different Orthodox parties did well.”
And the Mercaz, Conservative, slate came in fourth overall. Rabbi Joshua Kullock of West End Synagogue says he is pleased to see the increase in voting, particularly in the Conservative and Reform arenas, because it means those groups were better able to mobilize their members. But he is unsure of the overall effect. “Remains to be seen how, at the end of the day, these mandates will impact the general conversation. Hopefully it will help to ensure that Israel remains a Jewish and democratic state, and that both Israel and the diaspora develop deeper ways to celebrate and strengthen Jewish diversity.”
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Nashville’s participants all agree the increased turnout this year was due to increased interest after the terrorist attacks of October 7th. Danziger says, “Some of the things that resonated the most with our voters was first of all we are really concerned about the hostages and to have a voice in Israel to really prioritize that.” Coleman agrees and says the events of October 7th brought home the unifying aspect of Israel, particularly when it comes to the rising antisemitism, which she says now comes from both the Right and the Left. “It’s behind a lot of the antisemitism we’re having, especially on the left. It’s one thing if the Right and Nazis are coming after us, that feels homegrown in the United States and the thing we’ve dealt with in other countries. It doesn’t feel like it’s because of our support for Israel,” she says, “But now on the left the antisemitism is based within our support for Israel and being a Zionist. So even more so it feels important to make sure Israel is a secure place for us.”
And Zimmerman says October 7th brought focus to the organized Jewish world. “The way some of these organizations responded after October 7th made people realize there’s a lot more here than they thought. This is an interesting way to get involved and make sure that I as an individual person in whatever movement has a chance to have my voice heard.”
This year’s elections also contained a fair amount of controversy. There were allegations of voter fraud among six of the slates. Coleman says this was the hardest, most disappointing part of the experience for her. “It was really disheartening because we knew about the fraud during the election period. We were hearing about it and WZC didn’t really do anything to stop it during the election, is what it felt to me.” She says this type of behavior runs counter to Jewish values. “As Jews we need to be upright citizens, especially right now. And you have our own American election going awry.”
To date, the American Zionist Tribunal and the Zionist Supreme Court, the WZC’s judicial authority in Jerusalem, are considering the case. Danziger says her coalition is advocating for a plan to discourage voter fraud in the future. “There should be a penalty to maintain the integrity of the elections.”
