Published: 2 May 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
A new initiative to address rifts between Israel and the Diaspora will offer “strategic labs” in major Jewish centres with aim of developing a Global Council for Jewish dialogue.
Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog, has moved the heal the growing divide between Israel and the Diaspora with a new process for consultation among world Jewish communities.
Kol Ha’am—Voice of the People: The President’s Initiative for Worldwide Jewish Dialogue was announced at the Jewish Federation of North America (JFNA) General Assembly last week.
The assembly saw unprecedented protests and conflicts, further exposing deep problems between Israel and the Diaspora.
President Herzog said the aim was to create a collaborative forum where a diverse range of Jewish voices could “engage in serious, sensitive and strategic discussions on the most complex and pressing issues facing our people”.
He said the initiative would create a “Jewish Davos,” referring to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss town, where delegates from many sectors discuss urgent global issues.
Herzog’s office will work with the international consulting firm Deloitte to hold a series of “strategic labs” in “14 major Jewish centres, across six continents, and contribute to his vision of a global council for Jewish dialogue.”
These sessions will be held over June and early July in Israel, New York, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Toronto, Buenos Aires, Argentina, São Paolo, Johannesburg, London, Paris, Budapest and Melbourne, and in virtual labs in Hebrew and English, his office said.
Herzog said the gaps between Jews were growing wider and he hoped Kol Ha’am would create a “global Jewish beit midrash,” a house of study, where Jews from around the world can gather and debate – not necessarily reach consensus.
“Disagreement — rather than pushing us apart — can be the force that builds us and binds us,” he said, quoting Pirkei Avot 5:17, “Every dispute that is for the sake of Heaven, will in the end endure.”
Herzog said the goal of Kol Ha’am was both to improve dialogue and to identify and develop young Jewish leaders.
“I consider this to be its most important function. We need our best and our brightest to show up on the front lines for our people. To pool their resources of vision, courage, and capability to help position our nation to survive and to thrive,” he said.
Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler said, “The Voice of the People will be a timely and important vehicle for dialogue and collaboration, not just between Israelis and the Diaspora but also between diverse communities across the Diaspora.
“We welcome the initiative’s partnership with the World Zionist Organisation and the Jewish Agency for Israel, and the President’s decision to hold over a dozen consultations around the world, including in Australia. From the outset, President Herzog has set the tone. This isn’t a public relations exercise, but real dialogue. We look forward to working with the President and our partners at WZO and the Jewish Agency and engaging fully in the process.”
Herzog unveils new dialogue initiative, ‘Voice of the People,’ at JFNA General Assembly (EJP)
