OPINION: Why the upcoming World Zionist Congress deeply matters

When Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress in 1897, he brought with him his years of experience working in theatre as a playwright. He understood that a revival of the Jewish people’s national homeland would require more than keen political strategy – a background he also had, given his work as a political correspondent for one of Europe’s top newspapers at the time. Such a gathering would require the proper presentation. From the way the stage looked to the way attendees dressed, Herzl paid careful attention to every last detail to make sure the story that both attendees and attending journalists would share back at home would be one of a serious political movement primed for success.

128 years later, the 39th Zionist Congress is about to convene in Jerusalem. And true to Herzl’s legacy, even many decades after the Zionist Movement succeeded in its mission of creating a Jewish state, it remains a landmark event of major importance for the Jewish world. And it remains a foundational expression of Jewish peoplehood: of Jews from Israel and around the world coming together to make decisions that will shape our shared future.

Given the challenges that Israel has faced these past two years and will continue to face in the years to come, the practical implications of this year’s gathering are as important as ever. Under the Zionist Congress’s auspices are some of the largest organisations in the Jewish world, including KKL/JNF and its $2 billion annual budget, as well as the Jewish Agency and its programs in aliyah, Israel education, and aiding Jewish communities in need. How these organisations will work and spend their money over the next five years in response to the immense challenges we face both in Israel and the Diaspora will be at stake in Jerusalem later this month. These challenges include rebuilding and recovery, educating the next generation, and of course – combating antisemitism. The horrific antisemitic terrorist attack in Manchester on Yom Kippur must be a wake-up call for Jewish leaders everywhere to redouble our efforts on this front.

The representatives making these decisions will be those democratically elected by Jews in Israel and around the world – including a delegation from the United Kingdom, elected via the Zionist Congress elections held in Britain earlier this year.

As Vice Chairman of the WZO, representing the Masorti Movement’s MERCAZ faction – a movement and faction in which we pride ourselves on holding the centre – my hope is that this Congress will put political interests aside and do what’s right for Israel and the Jewish people at this pivotal moment. There are urgent rebuilding needs in Israel’s north and south. There are vital initiatives to combat antisemitism and connect the next generation with Judaism and Zionism in synagogues and youth groups that need funding.  Extremist forces who, as we saw in elections in the United Kingdom, have a divisive, more sectarian agenda cannot be allowed to set the agenda at our collective national institutions. Zionism has always been a liberal, pluralistic, and democratic movement, and we can’t let extremist forces change that. This would have a similar impact on our national institutions, as many feel the election of this Israeli government, the most extreme in the country’s history, had on the country throughout 2023 with disastrous consequences.

This Zionist Congress could not come at a more pivotal moment. We were all overjoyed by the return of our living hostages, and of course, there remains more to be done: all of our hostages need to come home. But so many of us feel that after two years of war and heartbreak, our “Day After” – our 8 October – may finally be approaching. This Congress will be a chance for the elected representatives of British Jewry, like their counterparts from around the world, to put their stamp on what that Day After will look like.

Dr. Yizhar Hess is the Vice Chairman of the WZO and the senior representative of MERCAZ, the Masorti slate at the World Zionist Congress.