Why I am a World Zionist Organization Council Member

After kiddush on the first Shabbat of 2026 I spoke at my shul, New North London Synagogue, about my experience as a delegate to the World Zionist Congress (WZC) held in Jerusalem the previous October. I hadn’t prepared remarks; I spoke from the heart.

It was a great audience. We all cared and many were well informed, some more than me! Yet fewer than 10% of those who attended services stayed to listen. 

That figure stayed with me.

We all care about Israel. Many of us hold strong and passionate views. But only a small minority were willing to remain for a conversation about how world Jewry can actually shape Israel’s future. This “less than 10%” phenomenon runs through what follows.

A Family History of Zionist Responsibility

My great grandparents, Archibald Jacob (AJ) Freiman and his wife Lillian, were Canadian delegates to the 15th WZC, held in Basle in 1927. AJ was President of the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC); Lillian was President of Hadassah.

Their inspiration came from a 1926 visit to Ottawa by Chaim and Vera Weizmann. While initially sceptical, the Weizmanns persuaded them to lead a national campaign to raise US$1 million to purchase Emek Hefer for the Jewish National Fund (JNF). 

That campaign culminated in 1927 at a CJC meeting in Winnipeg after a cross-Canada journey to rally support. The funds were raised—using huge collection cups! 

At the time, malaria infested the swampland of Emek Hefer. Pioneers transformed it into productive farmland. Today the region covers around 50 square miles stretching from the West Bank to the Mediterranean. It is home to roughly 40 thousand people and is one of Israel’s breadbaskets. Strategically vital, it provides narrow access to Haifa and the north. It hosts the Ruppin Academic Center known for work in health, refugee absorption and marine biology and has recently produced an Olympic windsurfing medalist. Under the leadership of my friend, Deputy Mayor Chizki Sivak, the local beach has become a vibrant, environmentally conscious communal space, where religious and secular residents come together for joyful Kabbalat Shabbat services. It is a living example of what Zionism can be at its best. 

The 1920s were turbulent and frightening years for Jews. After decades of persecution under the Czars and Stalin came the rise of Nazism. Existential fear motivated AJ and Lillian’s commitment to Herzl’s vision.

Lillian died in 1940 aged 55. AJ died on June 4, 1944 and he was buried on D-Day (the burial had to be postponed so that the Prime Minister could announce the invasion in parliament before attending the funeral). Both were leading supporters of Canada’s war efforts, yet sadly neither lived to see the liberation of Europe or the establishment of the State of Israel.

The World Zionist Congress of 2025

Nearly a century later, the WZC once again convened in unprecedented times. Around 650 delegates joined in the spirit of the first Congress led by Herzl in 1897.

Roughly 200 delegates represented Israel, appointed in proportion to Knesset party representation. American Jews and Jews from the rest of the world elected similar numbers alongside delegates from institutions like Hadassah and B’nai B’rith. I was appointed to represent Masorti Olami (worldwide Masorti/Conservative Judaism). We elected an executive committee and voted on resolutions.

Masorti and MERCAZ, our political wing, had 60 delegates. We were proud that resolutions we initiated passed with strong majorities, including support for egalitarian prayer at the Kotel and a call for an independent state investigation into the security breaches of October 7th.

We felt relieved to see proposals we opposed, such as annexing the Temple Mount and funding settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, defeated. Other resolutions attracted broad consensus: requiring all young Israelis to serve in the army, promoting Zionism and Hebrew learning, and fighting antisemitism on campuses.

While the WZC cannot enforce these, they can fund them and they are an important barometer of world Jewish opinion. 

Why the World Zionist Organization Matters 

For many years, I believed that as a non-Israeli who does not vote or send children to serve in the IDF, I had no right to participate in Israeli politics.

I no longer believe that.

Today, I feel the same responsibility to support a democratic, pluralistic Jewish state that my great-grandparents felt. 

One of the main pillars of the WZO is Karen Keyemet Le-Israel (KKL), or JNF. Founded in 1901 to buy land for Jewish settlement, KKL still retains legal title to roughly 13–15% of the land within Israel’s internationally recognized borders. This land is held in perpetuity for the Jewish people. The land cannot be sold or transferred to the state, despite political attempts to do so.

This land is leased to individuals, communities, kibbutzim, corporations, and local municipalities. Lease revenues provide the bulk of the $2 billion WZO annual budget which funds projects strengthening Israel and Jewish life worldwide: aliyah and integration, settlement and development, education, and strengthening Jewish communities globally.

The land remains with the WZO, the same institution my great grandparents so strongly supported. As a WZC delegate, Zionist General Council delegate and Presidium (executive committee) member, I help safeguard that legacy.

I owe it to my compatriots who raised $1 million a century ago in pursuit of a Jewish future.

The “Less than 10%” Phenomenon

In the most recent WZC elections, British Jews elected 19 delegates. Despite enormous communal effort, fewer than 5% of eligible British Jews voted.

Why?

Do people feel their vote doesn’t matter? Or do they feel they have no right to participate? 

I want to challenge these assumptions. 

Israel’s enemies question its legitimacy. I think one of the strongest responses is simple. Israel does exist. Like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Republic of Ireland, other states that emerged in late 1940s, Israel is a fact.

So too is the WZO.

It is imperfect. It has faced allegations of mismanagement, much like other institutions and countries. But it exists. It funds vital projects, shapes policy, and serves as a global Jewish parliament. My great-grandparents stayed in the room a century ago. They raised money; they argued; they voted.

We owe it to our forebears, and ourselves, not to be part of the silent 90%.

So next time there’s a conversation after kiddush—join me. Engage. Vote. Our future is shaped by the people who stay in the room.