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Between 19 and 21 April 2023, more than 700 delegates from across the world and Israel gathered in Jerusalem for the Extraordinary Congress of the World Zionist Organization. The congress was held in 2023 because the 2020 WZO Congress was only held electronically due to Covid travel restrictions.

Despite having to deal with much frustration, this was a hugely successful congress for arzenu’s delegation. Without our strong, well-prepared presence, the message of the Congress would have been one of support for the government. Instead, we made sure that the Congress sent a clear signal to the government that world Jewry believes in the values of the Declaration of Independence and is deeply committed to Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State.

At the congress, the right showed us what they will do in Israel if they succeed in pushing through the judicial reforms: when they are unsure about winning a vote, they will prevent voting from happening. Similarly, we saw a perfect example of the discrimination that we would face in an undemocratic Israel: on Saturday afternoon at our hotel, when Dekel Houmash, Executive Director of arzenu, went to the receptionist to have our key cards reactivated as we had booked late check-out, she was told that it was not possible that late-check out had been approved for us, because we are not religious. This type of discrimination is currently illegal in Israel.

We liaised with our faction partners (WUPJ, Mercaz and Masorti Olami) as well as the center-left parties (Meretz, Avodah, Yesh Atid, Yisrael Beiteinu) to ensure that the topics that matter most to us would be on the agenda. These were:

• The judicial reform plans of the government (our resolution 3.1)
• The centrality of the Declaration of Independence (resolution 1.1 by WUPJ and resolution 1.2 by Brit Etz-Avodah)
• Protection of the recognition of Reform and Conservative conversions (resolution 4.2 by Mercaz)
• Support for the law of return in its current form (resolution 2.2 by Mercaz and Yisrael Beiteinu)
• Strengthening the relationship between LGBTQ+ communities in the Diaspora and Israel (resolution 4.1 by Meretz)
• Respect for the symbols of the state (resolution 6.2 of the Kol Israel Faction)
• Strengthening the representation of women (resolution 7.1 by Yesh Atid)

We can rightly be proud that all of these resolutions were passed in the final vote and it was my personal privilege to chair such an outstanding team of delegates that secured this great success.

In addition, we received strong PR: in connection also to other protests that happened at the meetings of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the General Assembly of the Federations of North America, the press reported about our important efforts to defend democracy in Israel (see https://www.arzenu.org/news/ for examples).

At the Extraordinary Congress we showed that when we build strong coalitions, prepare effectively and work hard as a team of delegates, we are able to have a political impact far greater than our numerical electoral weight. That said, the Congress also showed that the right are willing to play dirty and that they will do anything they can to suppress our voice in the Zionist Dialogue. Now is the time to start getting ready for the elections for the 2025 Congress

1. Let your country chair know what role you will play in the campaign
2. Identify others who will be able to contribute time or money to the campaign
3. Make sure that in each of your teams you have individuals who:
   • Have a following and can enthuse others to join the campaign
   • Understand the details of what’s at stake
   • Can communicate to those who don’t understand the details why this matters
   • Are able to fight the political battles.

Together we can ensure that we make a significant contribution to working for an Israel as it should and could be.

Rabbi Lea Mühlstein