World Zionist Congress devolves into chaos after Yair Netanyahu tapped for key role

Wednesday night saw the sudden collapse of a compromise agreement on appointments at key Zionist institutions, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial elder son Yair was unexpectedly tapped for a cushy board position at the World Zionist Organization.

The agreement, which was on the verge of being signed before Yair’s appointment was revealed, is now off the table.

After the deal fell apart, delegates voted to extend the World Zionist Congress for another two weeks to allow more time for negotiations, but a source familiar with the details indicated that a revised list of appointments may be revealed over the coming day.

According to Hebrew media reports, the position Yair Netanyahu was nominated for comes with an office, a car, and a salary commensurate with that of a government minister.

Several reports said Netanyahu was nominated to serve as the director of the organization’s information (hasbara) department.

The younger Netanyahu, who has spent much of the past two years living in Miami, Florida, is best known for his firebrand social media presence and association with a number of far-right European and American politicians and figures. In recent months, he has denounced the current IDF chief of staff, called Qatar’s leader a modern-day Hitler, blamed the Israeli left for major fires, and castigated the president of France.

Members of the liberal bloc, which includes Yesh Atid and the main pluralistic streams of Judaism, made it clear that the junior Netanyahu’s appointment crossed a red line, and would not have a place in any revised agreement.

Under the terms of the original compromise deal, Rabbi Doron Perez, chairman of the religious Zionist World Mizrachi movement — and father of Cpt. Daniel Perez, who was killed in the October 7 Hamas attack and whose body was held captive in Gaza for two years — was slated to become the next chair of the World Zionist Organization. Halfway through his five-year term, Perez would be replaced by a representative of the Yesh Atid party.

Meanwhile, Yesh Atid MK Meir Cohen would serve as the next chairman of the Jewish National Fund-KKL, retiring from the Knesset after 12 years. He would be replaced in the middle of his term by a representative of the Likud party.

Held alongside the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem this week, the Zionist General Council was set to appoint new leadership and top positions at the WZO, Jewish National Fund-KKL and other national institutions, with annual budgets of more than $1 billion to be used for Jewish causes. Whether those positions are filled by people from liberal or conservative blocs comes with significant ramifications for what types of projects are funded.

The vote on the appointments was supposed to take place Thursday, but was brought forward one day due to the mass Haredi protest against IDF conscription scheduled for Thursday at the entrance to the city.

The agreed-upon division of the leadership positions of the WZO and KKL was seen by many as a significant and fair compromise between the two blocs, reflecting the near-parity in mandates in the World Zionist Congress. The dissolution of that deal has the potential to reshuffle the deck.

During the previous term, both positions were held by Likud figures, Yaakov Hagoel and Ifat Ovadia-Luski.

WZO vice chairman Yizhar Hess called the proposed appointment of Netanyahu “unacceptable.”

“Yesterday, we at the national institutions were on the cusp of an historic, balanced agreement that would have united the Jewish people and positioned us to meet the challenges facing Israel and the Jewish world,” said Hess, who also serves as a senior representative of the Mercaz slate for the Conservative/Masorti Movement.

“As we saw in the reactions of dismay and shock on the Congress floor, representatives of the liberal/pluralistic camp raised their voices and made clear we will only sign an agreement that is balanced and unites Israel and the Jewish people,” he added.

Power struggles behind the scenes

According to inside sources, the stage was set for the dramatic compromise agreement, and then its spectacular implosion, at a World Likud meeting held earlier this week. Incumbent World Likud chairman Hagoel was widely expected to be reelected for another term, but was served a surprise defeat by longtime rival Miki Zohar.

If Hagoel had won that election, a source explained, he likely would have been able to sew together an agreement that would allow him to retain his position as chairman of the WZO. Once Zohar won, the groundwork was laid for the broad power-sharing arrangement that was a compromise between the major camps.

But Hagoel, whose relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is often antagonistic, wouldn’t have tried to throw in a perk for the PM’s son. It seems that Netanyahu likely made an offer to Zohar, one of his loyalists, to set up a plum position for his son, the source suggested.

Pandemonium in the plenary

Delegates of the Congress, often referred to as the “parliament of the Jewish people,” said the voting on dozens of resolutions pertaining to the most significant issues facing the Jewish people was also filled with controversy and conflict. After the event opened Tuesday, voting was moved from Thursday to Wednesday night, and the period for debates about the topics — ranging from social justice to national policies, fighting antisemitism, Jewish education and rebuilding Israel after its two-year war against Hamas in Gaza — was shortened.

Delegates described high tempers in the room during voting, with members of the right-wing and left-wing blocs on opposite sides of the room. A source from the right wing said things started off poorly when the plenary voting was led by Rabbi Lea Mühlstein, a liberal figure who introduced herself and stated her pronouns, a convention sometimes mocked in some circles.

“That kind of set the tone that the left was firmly in charge, and people in the Haredi parties were yelling about it,” the source said.

Ultimately, the bulk of the resolutions that passed were left-leaning, the source said.

The motions that passed included calls to stop building in the disputed E1 area located in the West Bank and to block funding for use in Israel’s potential settlement of Gaza. A resolution calling for the reopening the egalitarian area of the Western Wall, closed for several years after a stone fell from the wall in 2018, also passed.

“Basically, everything from the left passed, and nothing from the right,” the source said. “It was a full sweep.”

As the voting extended into the night, delegates trickled out of the hall, and at a certain point, many delegates from the right walked out, bringing the number of voters remaining below the minimum threshold.

Frustration mounted on both sides of the aisle further as word of Yair Netanyahu’s proposed appointment got out, delegates recalled.

Some resolutions were not presented for voting. A full  list of the resolutions that passed has not yet been published.

“The whole voting process was completely disorganized, in the spirit of this entire campaign,” said a source, referring to massive voting fraud that took place in the US WZO elections last month.

Resolutions are not binding upon Israel’s government, but representatives insist that their decisions are significant declarations of the democratic will of the Jewish people and have an influence on members of Knesset.

“The World Zionist Congress can be described as the Israeli parliament’s upper chamber, like the House of Lords in the UK, where delegates representing the full spectrum of world Jewry can have their say on issues, make declarations and dictate vital budgets, positions and agendas for Israel and the Jewish world over the next few years,” commented Ashley Perry, a former senior government adviser and political communications strategist, who was also a delegate at the Congress.

Perry added that “the fact that you see leaders of Israeli political parties, MKs, and other Israeli decision-makers and opinion-shapers involved in these discussions and roaming the corridors during committees and plenaries demonstrates the importance they are given by the Israeli political echelons.”

The World Zionist Congress, which brought hundreds of Jews from around the Diaspora this week to debate the most burning issues affecting the Jewish people, barely got any coverage in the Hebrew press in Israel, a source noted. Only when the scandal about the prime minister’s son emerged did it become a significant news item, the source pointed out.