The Zionist Congress delegates elect the World Zionist Organization’s leadership and the members of the Zionist General Council. They play a significant role in determining the various office holders in the National Institutions.
Below is a list of key positions and departments in the World Zionist Organization and the National Institutions up until the eve of the 39th Zionist Congress.
The Chairman stands at the forefront of the World Zionist Organization and all of its units and departments, representing the World Zionist Organization to all of the National Institutions. Responsible for managing executive meetings and implementing the decisions of the Congress and Zionist General Council, initiating and coordinating organization-wide projects and representing the World Zionist Organization at State events. The office is responsible for the finances and budget, the spokesperson's office, public relations, fundraising, the legal office and all aspects that aren't under a different specific executive.
The primary authority of the Deputy Chairman of the Zionist Executive is to formulate the budget of the World Zionist Organization and supervise its implementation. Other areas of activity include advocacy for Israel and Zionist education, development of the Herzl Museum and Center, establishment of a new campus for the Zionist Archives, and the office's publications.
The Settlement Division operates within the framework of the World Zionist Organization as an arm of the Israeli government. Their main mission is to strengthen the periphery by establishing rural communities that have the tools to succeed. In doing so, the division works to develop regional elements that will serve the communities and assist in creating settlements with a solid socio-economic foundation. The Settlement Division operates in the Negev, Galilee, Golan Heights, Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, and its activities are funded by the State of Israel.
The Department of Irgoon and Connection with Israelis Abroad was founded after the 38th Zionist Congress (October 2020). The department, a first of its kind at the National Institutions, centers around connecting with Israelis in the Diaspora. The department is responsible for four activities: Zionist Federations, liaising with Israelis abroad, Bialik Institute and the organizational activities of the World Zionist Organization.
Its main activity is working with Israelis in the Diaspora through a variety of unique programs such as community events, educational content booklets, Hebrew schools and more. The goal is to connect Israelis living in the Diaspora to the State of Israel, to the Israeli experience and to their Jewish identity.
The "Beit Ha’Am" project is one of the department's most prominent projects, offering accessible educational content to communities. Content includes dozens of experiential learning units on a wide variety of topics that provide tools for educators, community leaders and students to create dialogue on various central issues related to Israeli society. Through a discussion of issues that are relevant to all, Beit Ha'Am seeks to create a discourse on Israel as a question of identity, in which there is no fear of facing and dealing with the complexities of the issues we face.
Furthermore, an essential part of the department's work is working with 36 Zionist Federations from around the world. The department accompanies the Federations in their Zionist and Jewish activities in the Diaspora and constitutes their connection to the World Zionist Organization.
The Zionist Enterprises Department operates to ensure the future of the Jewish nation and to strengthen the Jewish identity and connection to Israel in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence and the Jerusalem Program.
The department works on instilling and strengthening the Zionist identity in the spirit of Herzl's model society by encompassing the values of mutual guarantee, responsibility and activism. The department operates in areas of community and educational leadership, “Judaism as a culture” and community building.
As a part of these activities, the department promotes Israel and Judaism among Jewish communities in the Diaspora, the connection between communities and the strengthening of ties with young people and unaffiliated Jews. The department also engages in research and development in the areas of Jewish identity and “Judaism as a culture.” The department strives to enable every Jew - whether in Israel or abroad - to develop their Jewish identity from a humanistic and cultural place with Israel at heart.
The core values of the department's work:
• The importance of the State of Israel to the Jewish people as a central value
• Judaism as a culture - the perception of Judaism as a developing cultural identity
• Pluralism, tolerance, inclusion, equality and democracy
• A communal perception of mutual guarantee, responsibility and activism stemming from a shared destiny
The Department of Zionist Activity in the Diaspora and French Speakers is committed to maintaining contact with Jewish communities, federations, organizations and institutions worldwide.
The department's main strategy is connecting Jews to Israel out of the belief in the centrality of Israel within the framework of Zionism. The department thus works to create new programs aimed at bringing Israel to Jews in the Diaspora. The programs are based on two central principles:
A. Each program includes collaborations with local organizations in the Diaspora.
B. Each program includes the use of tools that encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in connecting Diaspora Jews to Israel.
The department's main areas of operation are in North America, Latin America, Europe and Australia, and the department's employees speak Hebrew, English, Spanish and French.
The Department for Fundraising and Strengthening Community Relations’ goal is to strengthen the natural and desired connection between the State of Israel and the heritage of Israel by exposure to the World Zionist Organization's activities. This is accomplished by delegations of influencers and leaders that visit communities across the Diaspora. The department holds communal events, seminars, training courses and more to Rabbis and community leaders worldwide. The department also works to create connections with communities, organizations, rabbis and leaders with Jews in the Diaspora to create a network to advance the department’s activities and all of the activities in the various departments of the World Zionist Organization.
The Department for Periphery Advancement and Diaspora Involvement in the World Zionist Organization is responsible for strengthening Zionist values among young people in Jewish communities around the globe that come to Israel for various periods of time in different educational frameworks.
The department's programs deepen their familiarity with Israeli life and culture and enable them to be a part of daily life here in Israel. The department's activities are for young people in the Diaspora, young people in Israel in different educational frameworks, and for communities with young couples and families who choose to spend their first few years in Israel.
The World Zionist Organization’s Department for Combating Antisemitism and Enhancing Resilience brings awareness to antisemitism, educates young people about the consequences of antisemitism and works to eradicate it completely. The department makes efforts to strengthen the World Zionist Organization's activities in outreach and the fight against antisemitism, and to position itself as an international umbrella organization that combats manifestations of hatred against Jews and the State of Israel while initiating outreach activities around the world to achieve these goals.
The Department for Israel and Holocaust Commemoration Worldwide was founded out of a need to strengthen Jewish-Zionist identity among Israelis and Jewish communities worldwide. The department for Israel operates to actualize Zionism by advancing Jewish-Israeli education, liberal and democratic values and Jewish and Israeli culture. The department works to position the World Zionist Organization as an international umbrella organization for strengthening Jewish-Israeli identity and shaping the collective historical memory of the Holocaust in Israel and around the world. This is accomplished by promoting activities to commemorate and preserve the memory of the Holocaust and by empowering Holocaust survivors and bringing them to the forefront, with the understanding that their number is decreasing. An emphasis is placed on connecting the younger generation to the memory of the Holocaust.
The department partners in projects that promote a model society and help strengthen social resilience and the civil society in Israel.
The department also works to promote leadership and civic and community involvement, to strengthen Jewish-Israeli identity and integrate populations with special needs.
The Department of Education in the World Zionist Organization was founded in 2016 with the aim of promoting Jewish Zionist education in the Diaspora. The Department of Education’s vision is to ensure the future and uniqueness of the Jewish people by promoting Jewish, Hebrew and Zionist education through the cultivation of Jewish spiritual and cultural values and the establishment of the Hebrew language as the national language.
The main goals are establishing the World Zionist Organization as the leading Zionist educational organization in Israel and in the Diaspora and strengthening Jewish identity and connection to the State of Israel among Jews in Israel and the Diaspora through the Hebrew language. The department also works to create collaborations with the Israeli government in promoting and operating Zionist educational projects, expanding the activities of the World Zionist Organization in the formal and informal education systems in Israel and the Diaspora, creating and producing up-to-date, technological and innovative educational tools in Zionist education in Israel and the Diaspora.
The Department for Aliyah Promotion works tirelessly to create Zionist motivation and help prepare people for their aliyah. The first step to promoting aliyah begins by strengthening Zionist consciousness and awareness among Diaspora Jews to encourage them to make aliyah. The second step is preparing people for their aliyah by learning the Hebrew language, finding jobs and career paths, choosing the right place to live, knowing their rights as new olim and developing personal aliyah plans.
The department places a big emphasis on studying the Hebrew language. Knowing Hebrew is the most important tool for creating national consciousness and the most important condition for successful absorption. Therefore, the department establishes and creates large networks of ulpans in many countries, recruits students and recruits and trains teachers. These ulpans spread rapidly to many countries, becoming the highlight of the department's activity.
Finally, strengthening the connection of Diaspora Jews to the State of Israel is another important area promoted by the department. The department operates both online and in the media utilizing a wide range of projects and initiatives ranging from sending the best speakers to organize seminars, meetings, aliyah fairs, solidarity marches and flotillas for Israel as well as the preparation and distribution of creative information materials.
“Aspirations for justice; for human growth, these surely exist in our souls and we must bring them to fruition. Perhaps we will discover on this occasion the possibility of social improvements... that will also benefit the poor and the difficulties of other nations today. Only then will we be Israelis in the full sense of the word.” (Binyamin Ze'ev Herzl in his speech: 'Our Upcoming Goal - A Charter to the Land of Israel,’June 26, 1899)
The Department for Social Activism, Tikkun Olam and Preservation of Zionist Heritage works to instill and strengthen Jewish and Zionist morals by incorporating values of Tikkun Olam and social justice in the spirit of Herzl's model society. We believe social activism for all of the citizens in Israel and for everyone in the world is an important pillar of Zionism.
At the beginning of its journey, the Zionist movement sought to find a remedy for the suffering of the Jewish people. It is only natural that the role of Zionism today is to strive to reduce the suffering of every person in Israel and to act in the spirit of the Zionist leaders who love peace, justice and humanity.
The department will hold activities that promote the ideas of world improvement and social justice, the development of social entrepreneurship and the aspiration to reduce social gaps bringing the periphery closer to the center and promoting tolerance, equality and democracy in Israeli society.
The Department of Pioneering Youth and Future Generations aims to cultivate young leadership that is connected to Jewish heritage, the Zionist dream and human cultural foundation. The department’s goal is to encourage young Jews to be active leaders who take initiative using a variety of Zionist content to convey challenges, dilemmas and thoughts related to the complex reality that prevails in the State of Israel as a democratic Jewish state. They also aim to educate about the Jewish experience in the Diaspora and the bridge that connects these two parts of the Jewish people today.
The Department for Pioneering Youth and Future Generation empowers, encourages and expands the educational frameworks of the movement by strengthening and deepening education that advocates for noble educational processes, based on Jewish, Zionist and humanistic values. Values that are the foundation of the formation of the identity of future generations.
"He who cares for the days sows wheat, he who cares for the years plants trees, he who cares for generations educates people." (Janusz Korczak)
The Department of Hebrew and Culture in the World Zionist Organization was founded to deepen the Hebrew language and Jewish culture for Jewish communities all over the world.
The department cultivates Hebrew language education abroad, supports Hebrew language programs and initiates programs to connect people to the language and culture via innovative tools that are relevant to Jews in the 21st century.
The department uses multiple means to connect Israelis and Diaspora Jewry to Jewish-Israeli culture while advancing the Hebrew language’s status around the globe such as improving teaching methods and passing it on to the next generation as a current, meaningful and relevant language.
The department encourages and nurtures new generations of Orthodox rabbis through programs and spiritual services from the State of Israel. It conducts training programs for rabbis on current issues, holds professional seminars and conferences, initiates and encourages the establishment of women's study centers in the Diaspora, and operates the "Ben-Ami" project - spiritual guidance in small Jewish communities in the Diaspora.
As befits an era of transformation, the department deepens the connection of rabbis and spiritual and community leaders to the State of Israel and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel so that they may serve as a source of spiritual and national inspiration and a global focus for halachic rulings.
The department also attaches great importance to the status and role of community presidents and heads of Jewish organizations, as they have a great influence on shaping the Jewish image of their communities. Therefore, the department works to increase the involvement of community leaders in the spiritual life of their communities and to deepen understanding between the rabbis, community presidents and leaders. The department strives to bring hearts closer to Torah and Zion in all of its activities.
The Zionist General Council is the highest body in the Zionist Organization in the period between Congresses. The Zionist General Council has all the authority of the Congress besides for specific powers that are reserved solely for the Congress. The Council discusses and outlines the Zionist Organization’s policies on topics and issues on the agenda of the Jewish people while maintaining a dialogue with representatives from Israeli society and Jewish communities around the world. In addition, the Zionist General Council supervises and decides on the manner in which the decisions of the Congress and the Council are implemented by the executive.
The American Branch of the World Zionist Organization
The American Branch of the World Zionist Organization takes care of the World Zionist Organization's interests in the United States.
The main goal of the Central Zionist Archives is to gather and preserve Zionist documents so they can be easily accessed and available to the public. The Central Zionist Archives is the historical archives for the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency, KKL-JNF, United Jewish Appeal and the International Jewish Congress.
The Presidency of the Zionist Congress supervises the conduct of the Congress. The Presidency of the Congress has a number of special rights, such as the right to invite individuals or organizations deemed desirable to the Congress (without voting or speaking rights). The delegates to the Zionist Congress elect the Presidency at the opening session.
President of the Zionist Supreme Court
The President of the Zionist Supreme Court is elected by the delegates of the Zionist Congress and announces the election results to the Congress at the opening session. The President of the Court is responsible for appointing the Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, the body that oversees that all elections held in the Diaspora are conducted according to the principles of democracy.
The Comptroller of the World Zionist Organization is elected by the delegates of the Zionist Congress based on the recommendations of the Advisory Committee. The Comptroller's report is submitted to the delegates of the World Zionist Congress, and they make decisions based on this report.
The World Zionist Organization’s attorney is elected by the delegates of the Zionist Congress.
The attorney’s role is defined in the Constitution as follows: "The attorney shall represent the affairs of the World Zionist Organization before the Court and shall advise the central Zionist institutions on matters of law and justice related to this Constitution. They shall advise on the decisions of the Congress, the decisions of the Zionist General Council and the decisions of the Council, and on the relations between the central Zionist institutions among themselves and between each other, other institutions or individual Zionists.”
