Voting for the 39th World Zionist Congress closed on Monday night with a record 238,826 votes cast, representing a 93% increase over votes cast in 2020, and more than the previous high turnout in 1987 of 210,957. 251,930 people registered as of Friday. Voting was held for a total of eight weeks. 15,299 votes were submitted online since Friday morning alone. Hundreds of paper ballots remain uncounted. In 2020, final results were published 12 days after voting ended, but this may not be repeated as accusations of election fraud are being raised.

Immediately upon the closing of the voting, the AID Coalition, which is allied with Israel’s anti-government protest movement — filed a petition to the Zionist Supreme Court hours after the vote ended, calling for a “judicial or independent review” of the vote, the removal of the “infringing slates” and an “external monitor” to investigate the full election process.

The American Zionist Movement (AZM) administered the election. AZM hired Votem to implement it. Last month, nearly 2,000 votes were flagged as suspect because of various irregularities, suspicious email addresses, and repeating home addresses. Many of these votes were allegedly cast within minutes of each other from identical locations, using suspicious prepaid credit cards and unverifiable contact details.

Within a few weeks, more than 8,000 other votes had also been identified as potentially fraudulent, representing nearly 6% of the total votes cast at that point. The allegedly fraudulent votes benefited six of the 22 parties, including Haredi Eretz Hakodesh, associated with Israel’s Haredi United Torah Judaism party, and Am Yisrael Chai, an Orthodox party targeting young voters. A case was brought, alleging that Promotional materials sent by these parties to their supporters offered significant prizes, including the opportunity to win a Tesla or an expensive vacation, in exchange for bringing in voters for their cause, the suit claimed. Also, in at least one case, party members offered to reimburse a voter the $5 registration fee for voting, the suit alleged.

Five parties filed the suit at the Zionist Supreme Court, demanding that the three parties be disqualified from the race. The court ruled last week that the case has been closed, with no findings of wrongdoing.

Ultra-Orthodox parties have traditionally stayed out of the Congress due to its Zionist foundations. This changed in the previous election when the Haredi Eretz HaKodesh slate ran and won 25 out of the 152 US seats. 

Several slates, including ARZA/Vote Reform, Hatikvah, and Mercaz USA, have called for AZM to punish any parties found guilty of cheating, including disqualifying the offending slates. No evidence incriminating any of the slates of orchestrating the fraudulent votes has been revealed.

A record twenty-two organizations, including nine new entities, vied for more than $1 billion of funding and the ability to have a voice in Israel’s future in “the parliament of the Jewish people.” The more than 2,900 candidates on the ballot from 43 U.S. states and territories represented a significant increase from 2020, when 14 slates ran about 1,800 candidates. Each slate will be assigned a proportion of congressional seats based on the percentage of the vote it earns. U.S. voters, both on paper and online, will elect 152 delegates—about one-third of the 500 seats. The other 348 are allocated to Israel and the rest of the Diaspora.

Voters must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents at least 18 by June 30. They were able to register and vote online or request paper ballots. A $5 registration and voting fee covers the costs of operating the election. Voters must maintain primary residence in the United States, be Jewish, not subscribe to another faith and accept the Zionist movement platform the Jerusalem Program, which, in part, “views a Jewish, Zionist, democratic and secure State of Israel to be the expression of the common responsibility of the Jewish people for its continuity and future.”

For the first time, Israel365 Action ran in the WZC elections. The organization says it’s working against the “land for peace delusion,” as well as discrimination against Jews in Judea and Samaria. The group is aligned with American Jewish Conservatives and the American Faith Coalition.

“Since October 7, Israel 365 has seen a real need for activism,” said Rabbi Tuly Weisz, the head of Israel365. “We were focused on education for over 10 years, but when the war started, we saw a need to shift into activism, in particular against Palestinian statehood and in support of Judea and Samaria. It’s been a wild ride with so much to do and so many changes in Israel. We saw the World Zionist Congress elections as an important venue. For Israel’s sake, we needed to have a presence and to be vocal.

“We started a party, and I’m so proud of our efforts and so grateful for all the hard-working volunteers and delegates who worked so hard on our election campaign. No matter the results, there was already a success in that we’ve put the issue of Judea and Samaria at the forefront of the conversation of the Zionist movement today. This election was the first step. No matter what, Israel365 Action is going to continue to fight for Judea and Samaria and against the two-state solution.”

With a list of 100 delegate candidates, Israel365 Action advocates for alliances with faith-based Christians, which the slate calls “our truest friends” and “most reliable allies.” It is heavily critical of the American Jewish establishment, whose “Oct. 6 mindset has catastrophically failed us,” according to the group.

Israel365 Action stands on three core principles: the need for new, courageous Zionist leadership in the aftermath of October 7th; unwavering support for Jewish rights to the entire land of Israel and rejection of the two-state solution; and strengthening bonds with Israel’s steadfast allies worldwide, particularly faith communities.

People who voted in November 2022 in the Knesset election or intend to vote in a future Knesset election before July 28 are also ineligible.  

With elections every 4-5 years, the World Zionist Congress has historically been dominated by left-wing and progressive Zionist groups, which  Israel365 Action claims have pushed dangerously for the Two State Solution and detached Zionism from its biblical roots.

The 39th World Zionist Congress is scheduled to convene in Jerusalem from October 28–30, 2025, 128 years after Theodor Herzl established the Zionist Congress in 1897 as the supreme organ of the Zionist Organization (ZO) and its legislative authority. The World Zionist Organization elects the officers and decides on the policies of the WZO and the Jewish Agency, including “determining the allocation of funds.”