Published: 6 August 2025
Last updated: 7 August 2025
The results of the first direct elections ever held in Australia for Zionist delegates show the community has swung to the right but remains deeply divided.
Conservatives scraped in ahead of progressives, with Mizrachi, Eretz Hakadosh and Likud combining to elect seven delegates, while progressive slates ARZA-Masorti and Hatikvah Australia elected six.
At the last World Zionist Congress in 2020, Australia was represented by five conservative delegates (four Mizrachi, one Likud) and eight progressive delegates (four ARZA, two Masorti and two from Meretz and Ameinu, now united as Hatikvah Australia). Eretz Hakodesh, a new Haredi slate, was not represented at the time.
What's at stake?
The election decides Australia's representation at October's 39th World Zionist Congress (WZC).
Sometimes referred to as the "Parliament of the Jewish People", the Congress is a gathering of Diaspora Jews which sets policies for the international Zionist movement and, importantly, allocates funds raised in the Diaspora.
In the past, the number of Australian delegates from each faction has been set through consensus but this year, with a new entry in the form of ultra-Orthodox Eretz Hakodesh, no consensus was reached. The Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) facilitated direct elections and voting was open to all Australian Jews, provided they endorse the Jerusalem Program, the ideological platform of the Zionist movement.
Comments4
Doodie Ringelblum7 August at 10:17 pm
Isn’t a key question how many people actually voted? Is that number available? And if not – why is not released?
Bianca F7 August at 09:56 am
According to the ZFA there were only 6702 valid votes. (How many people voted last time?) So the vote represents a fraction of the Australian Jewish community. It can hardly be called a representative snapshot of the wider community.
Eric Lundberg7 August at 08:25 am
The headline is a little out, but that happens. The vote was around 49% to a combination of ARZA-MASORTI and Hatikvah, as against about 51% to MIZRACHI, Likud and Eretz Hakodesh. So, I would venture that the ‘liberal’ wing combined punched above its weight in the election and Mizrachi, while it won 4 mandates, really didn’t do as well as they should, given the size of their at least nominal constituency. Likud literally scraped in. I imagine Eretz Hakodesh were able to mobilise their disciplined voting bloc(?).
Given the enormous education campaign required after 20 years of not voting, I think open elections are the way to go in future.
Tom7 August at 03:26 am
Your headline (and article) claims that the Australian community has “swung to the right”.
How do we know that’s the case if this is the first time delegates have been elected, rather than appointed in backroom deals?
Perhaps what’s changed is that the delegates are better representing the community.