What organization has been termed the “parliament of the Jewish people”? Surprisingly, the answer is not the Knesset but the World Zionist Congress. Established by Theodor Herzl in 1897, the congress and its elected representatives gather every five years to make key decisions on allocating more than $1 billion to support the needs of Israeli society and Jewish communities in the Diaspora.
This year, between March 10 and May 4, American Jews are voting online for their delegates to the 39th World Zionist Congress, which will convene in Jerusalem in October. The representatives who are elected – with one-third of the 500 delegates coming from the US – will set policy and decide on the allocation of the organization’s funds.
More than 20 slates are contending in the US elections, ranging from haredi to Reform. Perhaps one of the most unique slates in this year’s elections is the AID Coalition, which bills itself as the “Israeli-American Voice to Rebuild Israel” and is unaffiliated with any political party or religious movement.
This reporter recently interviewed two of the organization’s founders, Batell Valentine Blaish-Sultanik and Jonathan Barsade, to gain a better understanding of its origins, its outlook, and its goals. “We started the organization just under two years ago with the goal of serving as a bridge between events in Israel and the Jewish and Israeli community in the United States,” said Philadelphia-based Barsade, a serial entrepreneur, lawyer, and lay leader in Jewish organizations.
Initially, he explained, the organization’s focus was on providing a financial platform to enable Israelis living in the United States to support activities consistent with the AID Coalition mission, which is strengthening and preserving the democratic foundations of the State of Israel.
After October 7, 2023, AID Coalition repurposed its activities to fund more than 100 social projects, investing almost $35 million to provide increased resilience in cities affected by the war, such as Ofakim and Sderot, and help displaced families. Barsade cited one case in which the organization provided funds to furnish empty apartments in Tel Aviv that had been provided to displaced families from Nahal Oz for a nine-month period.
Six months ago, said Barsade, the organization decided to run its slate of 190 candidates in the World Zionist Congress election, who “represent organizations that are fighting for democracy in Israel. Our focus is on the community of Israelis and Jews who care very deeply about Israel, with our focus being on how the different Zionist institutions are actually impacting Israel.”
Blaish-Sultanik, who lives in the New York area, graduated as one of the first female cadets from the Israeli Naval Academy, became the deputy commander of an IDF missile vessel and the first female airborne naval officer, and is a major in the reserves.
Combining her military achievements with her corporate legal background, Blaish-Sultanik holds the position of chief business officer at an Israeli hi-tech company and is an elected committee chair at the Israel Bar Association.In her words, “Israel is facing the greatest internal struggle in its history, and the coming month will determine whether we continue to be the Start-Up Nation, a thriving democracy in a hostile region, or if we allow extreme sectorial interest to divert us off course.”
Blaish-Sultanik pointed out that the AID Coalition is the only slate running in the US elections for the World Zionist Congress that is not affiliated with any political party or religious movement. “We have a rich slate of 190 people that represents all walks of Jewish life in the United States, which includes academics, people in hi-tech, and policymakers.”
She attributes her interest in becoming an agent for change to a ceremony in Westchester County, New York, that she attended on the one-year anniversary of Oct. 7, where a Supernova music festival survivor recounted her experiences.
“She spoke about my second cousin who was murdered at Supernova,” Blaish-Sultanik recalled. “He had gone back and forth four times to rescue others, and on the fourth time, the terrorists killed him. That hit me hard. I went home, and I knew that was the moment to step up. That’s when I assumed the position of executive director in the AID Coalition.”
Barsade, an entrepreneur who worked as an attorney for 19 years, first became involved in the organization two years ago as a member of the pro-democracy movement that opposed the reforms proposed by the Israeli government in 2023. Until two years ago, he said, much of the Israeli community in the United States lived in a type of bubble, following personal and work pursuits.
Once the battle over judicial reform began, things started to change in the community. “I realized that there was a rising awareness in the Israeli community in the US about what was happening in Israel. Two years ago, we saw there was a need, and we started to fill in that gap,” he said.
The Israeli community in the US became even more involved once the war started. Barsade explained that this was the first time that Jews living in foreign countries were physically impacted by the events taking place during the war in Israel.
“When Jews are being attacked in parking lots, and store windows are broken,” he said, “people start to feel the violence, even though they live in other countries. The direct geographic boundaries are falling. Their destiny is intertwined.”
While for most of the Israeli-American community Israel is not their physical home, they retain strong emotional ties and frequently visit the country, he added. For Barsade and Blaish-Sultanik, the bottom line is the participation of American Jews in the voting for the World Jewish Congress.
“There is a huge problem of awareness in these elections,” Blaish-Sultanik said. “Every Jew over 18 living in America, which also includes members of the Israeli community in America, can vote. We’re not asking people to quit their jobs or make aliyah; we’re asking them for one thing – their vote. It takes five minutes. It costs $5 to register, and voting helps determine how $5 billion will be spent. Every Jew and Israeli living in the United States can vote. In this election, every vote counts,” she asserted.
There are approximately four million Jews aged 18 and up who are eligible to vote in the World Jewish Congress elections. Five years ago, said Barsade, 110,000 American Jews cast ballots in the vote. This number is expected to increase to 200,000 for the current elections.
Barsade pointed out that the World Zionist Congress was established as an international organization of the worldwide Jewish community, and the assets that its institutions created belong to all the Jews around the world. “That is also why one of the things we are truly fighting for is a fair allocation. These are assets that belong to all of us. We should all have an equal share in them, and they should not be given in preference to certain sectors. In addition to specific projects, one of the things that we also argue for is higher levels of accountability and transparency,” he said.
Added Blaish-Sultanik, “These elections can directly decide if those funds will be used for rebuilding devastated communities in the North and the South, support court education and protect democracy, or will be given to sectorial groups and non-democratic agendas. That’s the bottom line. This is a great way to influence the next generations of Israel.”
For more information about the AID Coalition and to cast your vote for its delegates to the World Zionist Congress, go to www.aid-coalition.org/voteazm.
This article was written in cooperation with the AID Coalition.