US hits record turnout in Zionist Congress election as voting closes Sunday - exclusive

Over 211,000 US Jews vote in Zionist Congress election, surpassing all past elections.

 American Zionist Movement banner advertising the upcoming World Zionist Congress 2025 elections. (photo credit: SCREENSHOT/FACEBOOK/VIA SECTION 27A OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT)
American Zionist Movement banner advertising the upcoming World Zionist Congress 2025 elections.
(photo credit: SCREENSHOT/FACEBOOK/VIA SECTION 27A OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT)

An internal email obtained by The Jerusalem Post reveals that the United States has shattered previous turnout records in the 2025 World Zionist Congress election, with more than 211,000 American Jews casting their votes by early Sunday morning — the highest number ever recorded in a US WZC race.

As of 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 4, 224,348 voters had registered, and 211,338 had already voted, leaving just over 13,000 ballots yet to be cast before voting closes at midnight Eastern Time. According to the email, 15,299 votes were submitted online since Friday morning alone, with hundreds more paper ballots still uncounted.

This marks the largest turnout in American Zionist election history, surpassing the 1987 record of 210,957 voters — an election that used only paper ballots.

The vote determines 152 American delegates — about one-third of the total — who will help shape Zionist policy and direct over $1 billion annually in funding through the World Zionist Organization (WZO), the Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), the Jewish Agency (JAFI), and Keren Hayesod.

Election drew newfound attention due to Gaza war, rising antisemitism

The election, administered by the American Zionist Movement (AZM), has drawn growing attention this year amid rising antisemitism, the war in Gaza, and renewed global debate over Zionism itself.

A GALA celebration of the 125th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress takes place at the original venue, the Stadtcasino Basel, Switzerland, in 2022. (credit: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters)
A GALA celebration of the 125th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress takes place at the original venue, the Stadtcasino Basel, Switzerland, in 2022. (credit: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters)

“This turnout is not just historic — it’s a message,” AZM Executive Director Herbert Block said earlier in the voting period. “American Jews are saying loud and clear: We’re here, we care, and we’re voting for the future of the Jewish people.”

Balloting is taking place at zionistelection.org and is open to US citizens or permanent residents over 18 who are Jewish and affirm the Zionist platform known as the Jerusalem Program. Voters must not participate in Israeli Knesset elections.

A record 22 slates are running this year — ranging from progressive to ultra-Orthodox, from Zionist environmentalists to those opposing a two-state solution — reflecting the vast ideological diversity within American Jewry.

The 39th World Zionist Congress is scheduled to convene in Jerusalem from October 28–30, 2025, more than a century after Theodor Herzl’s first Congress in 1897.

With over 2,900 candidates running from 43 states and territories, this election may prove to be a turning point — not only for Zionist institutions, but for the evolving relationship between Israel and the Diaspora.