The Jewish people’s top responsibility today is to “advocate and educate about what Zionism means,” WZO President Rabbi Doron Perez said at AZM’s Biennial National Assembly.
New York, N.Y., December 12, 2025 — The American Zionist Movement (AZM)—the U.S. Zionist Federation in the World Zionist Organization (WZO)—has elected new officers who will take the helm of delivering passionate leadership for the movement’s diverse coalition of 51 national Jewish Zionist organizations.
The new lay leaders were elected at the AZM Biennial National Assembly, held December 7th-8th in New York City. This year’s convening was headlined by President of Israel Isaac Herzog, who spoke of the importance of the global fight against antisemitism, recent developments affecting the Jewish community in New York, and the ongoing challenges facing the State of Israel.
Mark Levenson of West Orange, N.J (from the Religious Zionists of America-Mizrachi), succeeds Deborah Isaac as President of AZM, and Shoshana Dweck of Westchester, N.Y. (from the Association of Reform Zionists of America – ARZA) succeeds Michael Laufer as National Board Chair.
Incoming President of AZM Mark Levenson. Photo credit to: Michelle Gevint.
Other new AZM officers are:
- Marc Landis (ARZA) of Manhattan as Treasurer
- Gene Berkovich (ZOA) of Great Neck, N.Y. as Secretary
- Nomi Colton-Max (New Jewish Narrative) of South Orange, N.J. as VP for Inter-Organizational Relations & Communications
- Ellen Hershkin (Hadassah) of Plainview, N.Y. as Vice President for WZO Relations
- Jillian Weisleder-Chera (Kol Israel) of Manhattan as VP for Financial Resource Development
- Rivkie Feiner (Eretz Hakodesh) of Monsey, N.Y as VP for Programming
- Sarrae Crane (MERCAZ) of Manhattan and Commack, N.Y as VP for Governance and Operations
Mark Levenson is Chair of the Real Estate Department and the Real Estate Transactions Practice Group at the law firm of Sills Cummis & Gross P.C. and also chairs the firm’s Israel Business Practice Group. Mr. Levenson has served for the last 15 years as Chair or Co-Chair of the New Jersey Israel Commission, appointed by successive New Jersey governors, and holds leadership positions within the Jewish Agency for Israel and the World Zionist Organization. He is a former member of the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, appointed by the President, and also a past President of the New Jersey State Association of Jewish Federations.
“It’s a great honor and privilege to be elected to lead AZM during this very important and challenging time for the Zionist movement – at a time when Zionism is so front and center in the discourse both inside and outside the Jewish community,” Levenson said. “AZM has never been more energized and the organizations that sit under AZM’s umbrella have never been more broad and diverse. This big tent of Zionists, and the healthy discourse around all issues pertaining to Zionism, is crucial to the future of our movement and the Jewish people.”
The theme of this year’s Biennial National Assembly was “Zionism: Many Visions, One Dream”—embracing the diversity and vitality of Zionism today as well as AZM’s work across a broad ideological, political, and religious spectrum to link the American Jewish community together in support of Israel, Zionism, and the Jewish people.
“The full spectrum of AZM congratulates our newly elected officers, who are stepping forward to lead at a moment that calls for courage, clarity, and deep commitment,” said Herbert Block, Executive Director of the AZM. “We extend our profound gratitude to Deborah Isaac, Michael Laufer, and our other outgoing officers for their dedicated years of service these past four years. Their contributions have helped position AZM to meet today’s challenges with purpose and to continue building bridges across our community, in the spirit of contemporary Zionism’s diversity.”
Newly elected President of WZO Rabbi Doron Perez delivered the Opening Keynote in his first address since assuming his new position, and underscored messages of unity, diversity, and determination.
Rabbi Doron Perez, President of WZO
“Our enemies have made it so starkly easy for us (to unite)—painfully easy for us—on October 7th and every day since,” Rabbi Perez said. “Every single Jew, and quite frankly non-Jewish Zionists in Israel—Hamas did not distinguish between ultra-progressive Jews and ultra-nationalistic Jews, not between ultra-Orthodox Jews, not between ultra-secular Jews. They didn’t even distinguish between Jew and non-Jew, Muslim and Christian—21 Bedouins were killed on the day. It didn’t matter if you were an observant Muslim, but you’re a Zionist because you live in the land, and you support the land…Perhaps if we are able to respond with deep internal unity, maybe we won’t need external enemies to remind us that we need to come together.”
The most important responsibility of the Jewish people and the Zionist movement today, he explained, is raising awareness about the meaning of Zionism.
“I believe the number one role, number two, and number three role that we have today is to advocate and educate about what Zionism means—the absolute integral role that Jewish statehood in our ancestral homeland plays, both in Jewish destiny and in human destiny. The inextricable link there is between the land of Israel, Judaism, and the Jewish people,” Rabbi Perez affirmed.
The “good news,” he said, is that Zionists “know how to turn challenges into opportunities.”
“That is what makes us the Jewish people, and therefore at least the battle lines are demarcated,” Rabbi Perez stated. “This gives us a tremendous opportunity—and specifically the AZM in America, and the World Zionist Organization all around the world—to stand up for our finest hour.”
About the American Zionist Movement
The American Zionist Movement (AZM) is comprised of 51 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 U.S. Zionist Federation in the World Zionist Organization.
AZM works to promote and defend Zionism in the United States; to deepen and expand the active relationship of the American Jewish community to Zionism in a contemporary context; to facilitate dialogue and collaboration among Zionist organizations through and with the AZM; and to be the central hub for Zionist resources in America.
For more information, please visit: https://azm.org/
