The Zionist Congress is the supreme ideological and policy-making body of the World Zionist Organization. It convenes once every five years in Jerusalem and brings together over 2,000 Zionist activists from around the world (750 delegates and twice as many alternates). This gathering represents the entire political and religious spectrum of the Zionist movement.
Approximately 42% of the delegates represent Zionist World Unions and are elected through Zionist Federations in over 30 countries, making the Zionist Congress by far the largest and most widespread democratic exercise in the Jewish world today. A further 25% represent Israel’s Zionist political parties, proportional to their representation in the Knesset. The remaining delegates represent 11 international Zionist organizations.
Together, the delegates and the bodies they form at the Congress determine the leadership and influence the policies of Israel’s National Institutions: the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayement LeIsrael and Keren Hayesod.
The 39th Congress is composed of 534 delegates: 203 from Israel (38%), 155 from the United States (29%), and 176 from the rest of the Jewish diaspora (33%).
The infographic below portrays the three major blocs of elected delegates to the 39th Zionist Congress.
Flyer from the Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem (KRA\2355).
The Zionist Congress. An illustration depicting Herzl on the porch in Basel surrounded by seven stars. Surrounding that are many illustrations depicting various aspects of life in Israel such as farming, security, aliyah and more. 1997.
