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Between January 21 and March 11, 2020, American Jews can vote for the Jewish future in Israel and around the world.

Make sure your point of view is represented in the next World Zionist Congress. By voting you will be able to choose one of the many slates representing diverse political beliefs, religious denominations and cultural traditions. The 152 delegates elected from the United States will join hundreds 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 and set policies regarding key institutions that support global Jewish life and which allocate nearly $1 Billion annually to support Israel and World Jewry (including the World Zionist Organization, Jewish National Fund and the Jewish Agency for Israel). With more slates and candidates than ever before, American Jews have a rare opportunity to make a direct impact on the future direction of Israel and diaspora affairs.

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FAQ

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). Learn more at azm.org.

Please email AZM at elections@azm.org or call 212-318-6100 ext 6943. More information is available at www.azm.org/elections.