Glossary of Terms
- The Area Elections Committee
- The Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency
- Constitution of The WZO
- The Central Elections Board
- The International Jewish Organizations
- WIZO
- The Jewish Agency For Israel
- Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal
- Keren Kayemeth Le’israel (Jewish National Fund)
- The Presidium Of The Zionist General Council
- The Zionist Congress
- The Zionist General Council
- The Executive Of The World Zionist Organization
- The Zionist Federations
- The Zionist World Unions
THE AREA ELECTION COMMITTEE
The Area Election Committee determines the method of elections and the conduct of the elections in each area/country. The committee must reflect the composition of the delegation of the electoral area in question at the previous Zionist Congress.
THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE JEWISH AGENCY
The Board of Governors determines the policy of the Jewish Agency. It directs, inspects, controls and guides its activities.
THE CENTRAL ELECTIONS BOARD
The Chairman of the Central Elections Board and the members of the board are appointed by the President of the Zionist Supreme Court. The board is chaired by a judge or judge emeritus in Israel. Factions which participated in the previous Zionist Congress participate in the board as observers. In addition to the board’s powers, it deliberates and decides in cases where omissions were discovered in the election preparations or a deadlock situation was created.
CONSTITUTION OF THE WZO
The Bylaws, rules and regulations of the World Zionist Organization
THE INTERNATIONAL JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS
Since the Twenty-Eighth Zionist Congress (1972), international Jewish organizations are represented in the Zionist Congress, provided that they accept the Jerusalem Program, even if not all their members are declared Zionists (unlike the World Unions in which every member must be a declared Zionist). These bodies have limited voting rights -they do not vote on matters of candidature.
WIZO
WIZO is an international, non-party Zionist body which receives, by virtue of an agreement entered into in 1964, global representation like all the other bodies with limited voting rights. However, WIZO has unlimited voting rights like the World Unions.
THE JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL
The Sixteenth Zionist Congress which convened in Zurich decided on the establishment of the Jewish Agency for Israel which would be a joint framework for the World Zionist Organization and for non-Zionists wishing to participate in the building of the National Home.
KEREN HAYESOD – UNITED ISRAEL APPEAL
Keren Hayesod was established in London in 1920 and was confirmed by the Twelfth Zionist Congress in 1921, after World War I, in Carlsbad.
Keren Hayesod was registered as “a Company Limited by Guarantee, not having a share capital”. Its members are elected subject to the approval of the Zionist Executive which also appoints from among its members the Chairman (appendix 8) and members of the Board of Directors. Until the end of 1926 the head office of Keren Hayesod, with its various departments, was located in London. Since then Keren Hayesod has had its headquarters in Jerusalem.
Keren Hayesod still operates in the spirit of its Foundation Declaration, issued in 1920 by Chaim Weizmann, Nahum Sokolow, Zeev Jabotinsky and other Zionist leaders. “The key is in the hands of the Jewish people” it declared. “No casual charity will suffice”. The declaration called for “self-taxation – steady, persistent, systematic, inspired by the noble Jewish tradition of the tithe”.
Unitil the establishment of the State of Israel Keren Hayesod was the financial arm of the “state in the making”. It funded immigration and absorption, rural settlement and security, vocational training, development of water sources, etc.
KEREN KAYEMETH LE’ISRAEL (Jewish National Fund)
The Fifth Zionist Congress, held in Basel in December 1901, decided on the formation of the Keren Kayemet Le’Israel.
This is a fund of the Zionist Movement for redemption of the lands of Eretz-lsrael by the Jewish people around the world, preparation of the lands and making them available to the Jewish settlers in Eretz Israel.
Since its establishment and until this day, Keren Kayemeth Le’lsrael has engaged in development of the land in Israel. This activity includes: an extensive afforestation project, preparation of land for agriculture, settlement, tourist enterprises and for housing for immigrants and the needy, roadbuilding in border outlying areas, construction of water reservoirs and dams to expand available water resources, environmental conservation and scenic enhancement, rolling back the desert, river rehabilitation and the fostering of Zionist education aimed at strengthening the ties of Jewish youth in Israel and the Diaspora to the land.
This body is headed by a Board of Directors elected by the members of the Zionist General Council.
THE PRESIDIUM OF THE ZIONIST GENERAL COUNCIL
The Presidium of the Zionist General Council is elected at the first Session of the Council after the Zionist Congress. The Chairman of the Zionist General Council who was elected at this Session is also the Chairman of the Presidium.
THE ZIONIST CONGRESS
The Zionist Congress is the supreme organ of the World Zionist Organization and its legislative authority.
THE ZIONIST GENERAL COUNCIL
The Zionist General Council is the supreme institution of the Zionist movement in the inter-Congress period.
The Zionist General Council has all the powers of the Congress except for those expressly reserved for the Congress.
The Zionist General Council inspects and, in so far as necessary, decides upon the manner in which the Executive will implement the decisions of the Congress and of the Council. The Zionist General Council receives and considers the reports of the Executive.
THE EXECUTIVE OF THE WORLD ZIONIST ORGANIZATION
The Zionist Congress elects the Chairman of the Executive and the Executive, which is charged with conducting the affairs of the World Zionist Organization in Israel and the Diaspora. The Executive is the executive institution of the World Zionist Organization. It handles daily work of the Zionist Movement in the Diaspora, in the Zionist Federations, regarding Hasbara and formal and informal education. The Executive is charged with executing the decisions of the Congress and of the Zionist General Council and is responsible to these bodies.
THE ZIONIST FEDERATIONS
The territorial Zionist Federation is generally a roof organization that organizes all the Jewish organizations defining themselves as Zionists and individual Zionists who have signed the “Jerusalem Program” and who accept the Constitution of the Federation.
THE ZIONIST WORLD UNIONS
“Zionist World Union” means a Zionist organization which represents a special ideological point of view within the World Zionist Organization, has branches in at least 5 countries and is represented by a Congress grouping/faction.