As of the 38th Zionist Congress, there are 10 slates or factions:
The idea to form territorial Zionist Federations was brought up in the first Zionst Congresses, with the goal of creating a system of them acting as the local franchise of the Zionist Movement in each country where it is active and recognized. The first one was founded in Great Britain and Ireland in 1899, in proximity to the 3rd World Zionist Congress. Today, under the Zionist Constitution, a Zionist Federation “…shall be the instrument…with whom the [Zionist] Executive shall carry out the tasks and duties imposed upon it…” In practice, the Zionist Federations function as umbrella organizations for all Zionist bodies in a particular country and provide a forum in which to discuss strategies, programming and budgets for Zionist activity. The two principal functions of the Zionist Federations are to:
Today there are approximately 38 Zionist Federations with representation in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Oceania. For more information regarding the work of the Federations and contact information for most of them, visit here.
Established in Basel, Switzerland in August 1897 by Theodor Herzl, the Zionist Congress was and remains the supreme decision-making body of the Zionist movement. Once held every year, the Zionist Congress is today held every 5 years and represents the only international Jewish governing body where all delegates are democratically elected and sit as equals. A Jew the age of 18 who acknowledges the Jerusalem program is eligible to vote. 525 delegates are elected from around the world to represent their various communities at the Congress.
Of the total, 38% of the delegates are allocated to Israel (190), 29% to the United States of America (152), and 33% to the remainder of the countries of the global Jewish community (165). Approximately 150 additional delegates are granted to international organizations such as B’nai Brith, WIZO, World Emunah, and the World Union of Jewish Students.
Aside from interruptions during the two World Wars, the Zionist Congress has met straight since its founding. Zionist participants in the Congress are free to form Zionist World Unions, also known as slates or Britot, which are somewhat like political parties. While Israeli political parties can participate in the Congress, World Unions are also organized and voted into the Congress by non-Israelis, making the Congress a multinational deliberative body for the Jewish people. Many slates choose to join forces and form factions or Si’ot, which serve as voting blocs in the Congress and the National Institutions.
In order to qualify as a World Union, the slate or Brit must have representation in at least five countries that send a delegation to the Congress and a total of at least 12 delegates. Each country is designated a number of delegates based on the size of its Jewish population and the Zionist activity in its community. The slates with representation in each country either come to an agreement regarding the division of the country’s delegates among them, or hold elections amongst the registered members of the local federation.
Israeli delegates for each congress are assigned to the Zionist political parties (those who accept the Jerusalem declaration) and their number is determined by the outcomes of the most recent election to the Knesset.
In addition to the delegates with full voting rights participating in Congress, other participants can be involved in the Congress in an advisory capacity and committee debates but without voting rights. The Congress and the balance of power between the slates determines who will hold leadership positions in the National Institutions – the World Zionist Organization, Keren Kayemet L’Yisrael, Jewish Agency, and Keren Hayesod – and how to allocate the Zionist Movement’s budgets.
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