On October 6, 2023, Israeli society was deeply fractured. Diaspora communities were torn apart along political or denominational lines, and our homeland was a source of stress, embarrassment, or pain to many Jews around the world.
Since October 7, the Jewish world has woken up to the terrifying reality that the threats we face – whether from terrorism, antisemitism, delegitimization, or internal decay – do not discriminate between Right and Left, religious streams, or Ashkenazi and Sephardi backgrounds. Hamas did not check voting records before striking.
Our enemies had no trouble uniting against us, so why are we struggling to unite for ourselves?
Words like “unity” and “solidarity” are often tossed around like slogans, stripped of meaning by their repetition. It’s always easy to speak of Jewish unity in the abstract, but if we want that unity to be real, we must take bold steps to reach across familiar ideological boundaries.
In March 2024, after eight years in Jerusalem City Hall, I decided to take on the role of secretary-general of the Kol Israel Party in the World Zionist Congress (WZC), an outspoken, centrist, and diverse party.
I am constantly asked why a figure entrenched in the ideological legacy of Jabotinsky and Begin would align herself with a broader, more diverse platform. For me the answer is simple. What defines me as a leader is not only my political affiliation. It is, and always will be, my passion for creating collaborative impact for our people.
Participating in a centrist, pluralistic WZC party is not an abandonment of my convictions but the affirmation of something deeper: that the Jewish people’s survival and development come before any factional loyalty.
A personal mission
I was raised in Gibraltar, which, like many small Diaspora communities, does not have multiple youth groups or Jewish cultural clubs. There is one of everything – except, of course, synagogues (we are Jews, after all). As a result, there was always diversity of opinion, belief systems, and much more. But in a small community everyone lives, prays, and socializes together regardless. When I entered Jerusalem City Hall in 2016, I realized pretty quickly that if I was to achieve anything meaningful, I had to cross divides and make allies in the most unlikely places.
In Jerusalem I had the privilege to break barriers and build coalitions. It is through the effort to bridge divides that we transform our dissimilarities into connections. But to do this, we have to insist on making space for shared experiences.
Jerusalem leads the country in creating models of a shared and productive society. Through my work in city hall, I have witnessed firsthand how civil society collaboration between secular and religious Jews can change mindsets and build lasting trust. We have pioneered tens of workforce participation programs and created an innovation ecosystem that embraces the haredi, secular, and Arab communities.
Through the FemForward program, which advances women in tech and which I am proud to have co-founded, we saw ultra-Orthodox, secular, and Arab women create alliances and step into leadership roles in business because we created the pathways for them to do so. Through my work with the Abraham Accords, I have seen Emiratis and Israelis forge business partnerships that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. During COVID, we created a volunteer task force with all the diverse groups in the city.
What we witnessed was unprecedented social cohesion, as all Jerusalemites fought a common enemy – “the virus.” In the city council I watched the ultra-Orthodox leave the room so that budgets we proposed for the LGBT community would pass unopposed. Most of these successes were achieved by finding allies and respecting differences. It is incredible what can be done when the cameras are not rolling and there is no posturing involved.
In Israel it is much easier to advance in politics if you pick a group to hate. In fact, it can be a very effective shortcut, one that has been offered to me plenty of times. But I will always choose the hard climb of the politics of unity, even if it takes me significantly longer or means I may never rise to the top of that mountain.
Recognizing the voice and legitimacy of different groups and overcoming cultural barriers between Jewish communities is the united future of Israel and the Jewish people. This is my mission and that of the Kol Israel Party.
Critical moment for unity
Since the horrors of October 7, 2023, our collective future demands not just talk but action, not just declarations but daring choices. If the Jewish people – whether in Israel, the Diaspora, or at global Jewish forums like the WZC – does not model how to work together across divides, then we are doomed to remain stuck, fragmented, and weakened precisely when history demands otherwise. There is both an urgency and an opportunity in this moment.
The WZC is often described as the “parliament of the Jewish people,” but unlike Knesset or Capitol Hill politics, it isn’t about forming a coalition government or winning legislative victories. It is about setting the ideological and financial priorities of the Jewish world – allocating hundreds of millions of dollars through the Jewish Agency, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, and United Israel Appeal, shaping how Zionism manifests today and how it will manifest itself in the future.
That’s not a job for narrow partisanship.
Israel’s domestic political scene over the past few years has been marked by polarization. But anyone paying close attention to Israeli society post-October 7 knows that something remarkable has also occurred. Amid unspeakable tragedy, grassroots efforts, cross-community aid networks, and new partnerships sprang up overnight. Secular kibbutzim welcomed ultra-Orthodox volunteers. Tech entrepreneurs delivered supplies to soldiers, while activists from the Right and Left organized shelters for displaced families from the North and South.
That spontaneous unity is a lesson. But it won’t last unless we institutionalize it. And forums like the WZC are precisely where we can formalize that commitment – by electing leadership that reflects not one camp or another but a coalition capable of genuine unity, innovation, bridge building, and forward-thinking strategies.
It requires humility to sit at the table with those who might disagree with your political stances – and creativity to find common ground anyway. It requires courage to lead in spaces where easy applause from your base isn’t guaranteed. But is this not what real leadership demands?
Jewish peoplehood
In many ways, the old left-right spectrum no longer serves us. Yes, there are still profound ideological debates over security policy, religion and state, settlement blocs, and social welfare. But ask yourself: Are these debates helped by further entrenching ourselves in partisan echo chambers? Or are they better served when leadership draws from across the political rainbow – forcing us to actually listen, challenge, and refine each other’s ideas?
Kol Israel, as a centrist, broad-tent party at the WZC, demonstrates not weakness but strength. It sends a message to world Jewry: We are all secure enough in our beliefs to share space with those who think differently, and I, for one, trust in the resilience of the Jewish people to chart a future that honors all of us.
The writer is secretary-general of Kol Israel, a slate in the World Zionist Congress. She is the creator and coproducer of a podcast, The Quad, and co-founded the UAE-Israel Business Council and the Gulf-Israel Women’s Forum. A former deputy mayor of Jerusalem, she recently joined Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy as a senior fellow and sits on the international advisory council.