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 7th
Frequently asked questions
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The World Zionist Organization (WZO) and the World Zionist Congress (WZC) are central nongovernmental institutions in Israel. While not a part of the Israeli government, “The Parliament of the Jewish People” represents a variety of Israeli political parties, their platforms and visions for Israeli society.
The WZO was founded by Theodor Herzl in Basel, Switzerland in 1897 at the first World Zionist Congress. Even though they predate the State of Israel, the country’s founders knew that to succeed it had to be a project of the entire global Jewish People. They baked the WZO and WZC into the Democratic process of Israel as the one way for Diaspora Jews to have a say in the important Issues facing the Jewish People and Jewish State.
WZC
Often called “The Parliament of the Jewish People,” the WZC convenes every five years to bring together representatives from Jewish communities around the world to decide on key issues affecting the Jewish people in Israel and globally.The Congress elects the leadership of the WZO, sets policies, and influences the allocation of significant funding of about $1 billion annually.
For more details, visit the WZO’s mission statement.
WZO
The WZO plays a crucial role in supporting activities worldwide which promote Jewish identity and Statehood and combat antisemitism.Members of Jewish communities worldwide vote for representatives in the WZO, designating decision-makers to hold key positions in Israeli National Institutions such as The Jewish Agency for Israel and Keren Kayemeth L’YIsrael (also known as KKL, the Israeli branch of the Jewish National Fund).
The WZO is responsible for setting policies, electing leadership, and directing various departments that oversee educational, cultural, and developmental activities within Israel.
For example, these institutions (KKL) make consequential decisions about where to purchase land and build new communities. Their actions can make the difference between expanding settlements in the West Bank or pausing in favor of a path to peace.
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Nothing less than the soul of the State of Israel is at stake in the 2025 WZC election. The ultra-Orthodox and ultra-Nationalist movements are using the levers provided through these institutions – and power gained in the World Zionist Congress elections – to advance their agenda, including:
Increased funding for Settlements
Rolling back gains for LGBTQ+ rights, gender equity, and religious pluralism
Stripping Israeli Reform clergy and communities of their rights and funding
Advancing policies to weaken the influence of Reform Jews by rejecting our conversions and questioning the authenticity of our children’s Jewish identity.
Ensuring ultra-Orthodox Israelis will not serve in the IDF
Advancing the Netanyahu Government’s judicial overhaul and anti-democratic policies of racist politicians like Ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Betzalel Smotrich.
Allowing the ultra-Orthodox to keep the core curriculum out of their schools, and to advance additional gender segregation in Israeli society.
Our representation in the WZC helps protect fundamental rights for all Israelis and Reform Jewish communities. It also prevents extremist factions from implementing policies that oppose our core shared values of democracy, freedom, pluralism, and security.
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The Reform Movement is represented at the World Zionist Congress (WZC) by ARZA (the Association of Reform Zionists of America) and by the international Reform Zionist organization (ARZENU).
ARZA provides the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) and the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) with financial support generated through individual dues from members of URJ congregations.
While the Reform Movement is the largest Jewish denomination in North America, we are a minority in Israel of just 8% – partly due to the lack of government funding in comparison to Orthodox communities. Your votes bring funds that are crucial to survive, thrive, and further our core values of democracy, freedom, pluralism, and security and champion a different vision of what it means to be Jewish in the Jewish State.
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The outcome of the WZC election directly impacts our ability to engage in vital advocacy and legal work in Israel. Even in the difficult days since October 7th, our democracy work through the Israel Movement for Reform and Progression Judaism (IMPJ) and Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), has proven crucial for Israel’s secure and democratic nature and for marginalized individuals within Israeli society.
Due to our success in previous elections:
We ensured that over $4,000,000 a year ($20 million over 5 years) of financial support goes to our movement in Israel, allowing it to significantly expand its reach.
We appointed key professionals to advance Reform Jewish values within the National Institutions, emphasizing equality, pluralism, and a commitment to a Two-State Solution. They have been able to directly prevent Settlement building and advance policies that align with our values.
We have passed key resolutions in the World Zionist Organization’s policy body for equality, transparency, and pluralism.
In addition, we have joined with Israeli political parties to advocate for societal change to impact the overall safety of Israel and for marginalized individuals including conversion, marriage and divorce, religious pluralism, gender rights, and combating racism.
Our successes include:
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).
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The funds allocated through the WZC help Reform congregations and communities on the ground in Israel live these values and work to integrate them into Israeli society. Your votes also appoint delegates who champion these values.
Our values include:
Shared Humanity (B’tzelem Elohim): We see everyone as created in the divine image and, as such, treat everyone with respect, dignity, and kindness.
Justice (Dirshu mishpat): We seek justice for all people throughout the world.
Belonging (Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem): We build, connect, and enrich communities – congregations, camps, programs, social justice work, and more – where youth and adults across all identities, generations, and lived experiences feel a deep sense of belonging.
Learning (Talmud Torah k’neged kulam): We honor Torah; wrestle with Jewish traditions and beliefs, including God; and engage directly with the difficult questions of our age.
Evolving (U’vtuvo mechadesh b’chol yom tamid ma’aseh v’raysheet): We awaken to new awareness, holding ourselves accountable for changing as we grow.
Israel and Jewish Peoplehood (Kol yisrael arevim zeh ba’zeh): We are committed to the safety and vitality of the Jewish people and to a secure and just state of Israel as a home – for all Jews and for all its inhabitants.
The work of the WZC:
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
Pre-Congress FAQs
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The 39th World Zionist Congress (WZC) is scheduled for October 28–30, 2025, in Jerusalem.
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Three things, in fast sequence:
Coalition bargaining — During the period between the end of the elections and the beginning of the Congress, a negotiation process takes place to decide which parties and individuals will be appointed to specific positions of leadership – both professional and lay - in the National Institutions. These agreements decide who holds the levers and controls the activity and budgets of these institutions for the next five years.Elections & placements — The agreements that will have been negotiated ahead of time and voted on/ratified by the Congress at its inception. Delegates to the Congress will vote on the negotiated slate of positions and position holders that shape placements across the National Institutions: The WZO, The Jewish Agency (JAFI), KKL-JNF, and Keren Hayesod. These institutions control funding and priorities that affect many areas of Israeli society and culture.
Resolutions — There are debates and votes on policy/values resolutions that guide the National Institutions’ work for the next cycle. (This is movement governance, not Israeli state lawmaking.) Resolutions will be divided by theme into different committees that will discuss and amend each resolution before going to the plenary where they will be voted on.
Beyond the official happenings, the World Zionist Congress is an opportunity to meet and sit with Jews from across the religious and political spectrum as well as from around the world, representing every country with a recognized Jewish community and that has created a WZO-affiliated Zionist Federation.
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While federal Congresses and Parliaments are continuous legislatures that help make laws and designate funding on an ongoing basis, WZC convenes once every five years and sets direction and elects leadership for Zionist Institutions. In between Congresses, the Vaad HaPoel (The Zionist National Council) meets annually to discuss resolutions and set policy, and our representatives work full-time within the National Institutions to continue exercising our power and advancing our policy initiatives in committees, boards, and departments and through budget opportunities. Seats at the VHP are proportionally allocated based on political size as a result of the WZC Elections.
The World Zionist Congress isn’t a law-making parliament; it’s the decision-making forum for the international Zionist movement. In a few intense days, delegates negotiate coalitions, elect leaders, and pass resolutions that set priorities for the next 4–5 years. Those outcomes then drive what the Zionist institutions do: which committees set agendas, which programs get funded, and which partnerships move forward.
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Chairs & committees = agenda control. Control of a committee determines what is discussed, when, and how fast it moves, so priorities like religious pluralism, democracy, equality, and human dignity get calendar time and staff attention.
Budgets & grants = what gets built. Committee leadership influences program proposals and funding in the National Institutions. For us, that affects items such as youth/camping, Israel–Diaspora engagement, civil-society partnerships, and support for our Reform Movement in Israel.
Appointments & hiring = who implements. Leadership slates steer departments and boards that execute policy day-to-day across the cycle.
Rules & guardrails = how the system behaves. Resolutions and governance norms adopted at Congress can require inclusion and transparency, shaping conduct between Congresses.
Coalition veto power = stopping bad ideas. A strong Reform mandate builds alliances that can block attempts to marginalize non-Orthodox Judaism or roll back gains on gender equity, LGBTQ+ dignity, and civic equality.
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Collectively called the National Institutions: the WZO, the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), KKL-JNF, and Keren Hayesod – major bodies that run/fund Israel–Diaspora engagement, Jewish education and community life in Israel, North America, and worldwide, land/forestry acquisition and sales, and global fundraising. The Zionist Congress decisions influence leadership and priorities across these bodies.
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Item descriptionThe U.S. Reform Movement is the largest block of delegates within ARZENU, the global Zionist Movement. The ARZENU delegation is made up of the worldwide elected delegates from Reform, Progressive and Liberal Movement communities. In addition to our elected ARZENU delegates, the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) receives a grant of 15 delegates and mandates
It represents the movement’s values agenda – democracy, pluralism, equality, justice, peace – through a diverse delegation of clergy, lay leaders, and professionals who negotiate coalitions, stand for leadership posts, and advance the platform at Congress. (U.S. voting for the 39th WZC ran March 10–May 4, 2025; those results determine the slate’s leverage at Congress.) Learn about the U.S. delegation to the 39th World Zionist Congress.
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For the 39th World Zionist Congress, the Reform Movement represented by ARZENU (the international political voice of Reform Zionism), will be in a faction with Mercaz Olami (the international Zionist political voice of the Conservative Movement) and with the AID Coalition (a U.S.-based, non-partisan, non-affiliated, 501(c)(3) approved organization, with a mission of strengthening, and preserving the democratic foundations of the State of Israel, and which appeals to Israelis living abroad).
Beyond our own “faction”, we will be in a larger bloc with our organizations including but not limited to Hatikva, Labor, Meretz, Yesh Atid, and others. This is often referred to as our “Gush” or our “bloc”. We have and will continue to coordinate with our “Gush” on resolutions, appointments, and additional decisions and votes that will be made.