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38th World Zionist Congress Elections

The information below is about the 2020 US Election for the 38th World Zionist Congress (WZC). Please check this page for updates on the next election, or email elections@azm.org for more information. A January 2024 document on the procedures for new slates to apply to run for the 39th WZC (by May 15, 2024) is available at the link here.

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Voting was held January 21-March 11, 2020

VOTE FOR YOUR VOICE IN ISRAEL

Make sure your point of view is represented in the next World Zionist Congress. When you vote, you will be able to choose from over a dozen slates representing diverse political beliefs, religious denominations and cultural traditions. Those elected from the United States will join delegates from Israel and around the world at the 38th World Zionist Congress in October 2020, the international “parliament of the Jewish people”, to make decisions regarding key institutions which allocate nearly $1 Billion annually to support Israel and World Jewry (including the World Zionist Organization, Keren Kayemet LeYisrael – Jewish National Fund and the Jewish Agency for Israel).

SLATE BOOKLET

Flip to view the 15 slates running in the 2020 US Election for the 38th World Zionist Congress

FAQ

More information on how to vote and other frequently asked questions can be found below.

To be eligible to vote in the US Election to the 38th World Zionist Congress you must:
  • Be Jewish
  • Be 18 years of age or above (as of June 30, 2020)
  • Be a permanent resident of the United States
  • Have not voted and will not vote in the March 2, 2020 Knesset election
  • Affirm your commitment to the Jerusalem Program

Click here to register and then vote. Each person can only register and vote one time. Registration and voting can be most easily be done anytime in minutes online from your computer, smartphone, tablet or mobile device. There is a $7.50 fee to register (anyone age 25 and under pays $5.00) which covers the administrative costs of the American Zionist Movement (AZM) to run the election. This small fee, in the tradition of Herzl’s “Zionist Shekel” to join the movement, also serves to prevent fraud by making sure that individuals are voting and are only doing so once. Payments can be made by credit card, e-check, Paypal and other methods. There is an option to vote by paper ballot via postal mail (click here for the forms and information). Votes are secret and are recorded by Votem Corp., an independent private election management firm retained by AZM.

The 38th World Zionist Congress (WZC) will be held in Jerusalem from October 20 – 22, 2020. It is the only democratically elected global Jewish forum and is the direct continuation of The First Zionist Congress, convened by Theodor Herzl in 1897. That gathering was the genesis of the modern Zionist movement and the original meeting of great minds that collectively put to paper the idea that the Jewish people should have a state of their own. Today, the WZC, which now meets about every five years, is the overall supreme ideological and policy-making body of the Zionist movement. The delegates and the bodies they form at the WZC determine the leadership and influence the policies of Israel’s National Institutions: the World Zionist Organization (WZO), the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemet LeIsrael (JNF) and Keren Hayesod – which together allocate nearly $1 billion annually in funding in support of Israel and Jewish communities around the world.

The Jerusalem Program is a set of ideals and principles that established the foundations of Zionism. It states:

Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, brought about the establishment of the State of Israel, and views a Jewish, Zionist, democratic and secure State of Israel to be the expression of the common responsibility of the Jewish people for its continuity and future.

The full text can be found here.

In the United States the American Zionist Movement (AZM), as the national Zionist federation, organizes a grassroots public vote where the American Jewish community elects 152 delegates to the WZC, which includes 500 elected delegates from Jewish communities worldwide. The election in the US is overseen by an “Area Election Committee” established by AZM under the rules of the World Zionist Organization.

AZM is comprised of 33 national Jewish Zionist organizations and works across a broad ideological, political and religious spectrum linking the American Jewish community together in support of Israel, Zionism and the Jewish people. AZM is the Zionist Federation in the United States affiliated with the World Zionist Organization (WZO). 

Please email AZM at elections@azm.org or call 212-318-6100 ext 6943. 

Election Rules

As Adopted by the US AEC

RESOURCES

Download Promotional Materials

LEARN MORE

Contact us for further information

ABOUT WZC

Learn about the World Zionist Congress

The following materials are available for download and promotional purposes. You may use and share them widely. If you have any questions, please email elections@azm.org

The following materials are available for download and promotional purposes. You may use and share them widely. If you have any questions, please email elections@azm.org

PAPER REGISTRATION FORM AND MAIL BALLOT

Online Voting at www.ZionistElection.org is strongly encouraged from your computer, smartphone or mobile device.