Imagine a reality in which tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews join the Zionist movement, supported and encouraged by some of their most significant religious leaders. In doing so, they formally agree to an ideological platform that includes Jewish unity, strengthening Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and democratic state, and encouraging recruitment and service in the IDF.

In the context of current internal tensions in Israel, this may sound like a far-off dream. Incredibly, this is what is happening at this very moment in time in Jewish communities across the world ahead of the 39th World Zionist Congress. This is evident from the preliminary results of the elections held in America, which attracted a record number of voters and many new parties vying for influence in the National Institutions.

We are witnessing a new-found awareness of the massive power and budgets wielded by these institutions, alongside a post-October 7 revival of Israel-centric Jewish identity and interest. A significant number of these new voters are coming from ultra-Orthodox circles who traditionally avoided – and even opposed – participation in the Zionist movement.

Rather than welcoming these new communities and voices to the Zionist movement, there have been coordinated attempts in different countries to disqualify their participation entirely, based on allegations of breaches of registration and voting rules.

From the narrow and selfish perspective of the World Mizrachi movement I am proud to be a part of, an argument could be made that barring ultra-Orthodox slates from running would be to our advantage, reducing competition and increasing the relative value of each of our votes. However, it is exactly this kind of narrow and divisive thinking that World Mizrachi opposes.

Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Israelis demonstrate against IDF enlistment in Jerusalem, March 27, 2025. (credit: ALON HACHMON)
Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Israelis demonstrate against IDF enlistment in Jerusalem, March 27, 2025. (credit: ALON HACHMON)
From the earliest days of the Zionist movement, Mizrachi has been a passionate religious voice, on the front lines of strengthening the Torah of Israel, the People of Israel, and the Land of Israel. This has always been with a spirit of unity and coexistence, promoting our values while working together with others towards the greater goals of bringing the Zionist dream to fruition.

We must embrace Ultra-Orthodox Jews

Today, the question we face is not how relate to secular Zionists, but how to relate to new ultra-Orthodox members of the Zionist movement, and it would be a historic missed opportunity if we do not find a way to include them, notwithstanding significant differences of opinion.

I see this as a parallel tension to the current debate in Israel regarding ultra-Orthodox enlistment in the IDF. MK Yuli Edelstein, chair of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, has been valiantly seeking to build consensus around a realistic and practical plan to answer the needs of the national interest without disrespecting the contribution of Torah study to our national survival.

Public debate in Israel is far more comfortable pointing accusatory fingers at the ultra-Orthodox community than it is at acknowledging imperfections in the IDF.

As headlines and discussions focus on the ultra-Orthodox world and their leadership, there is another side to this relationship which is no less important. The task is not only how to encourage ultra-Orthodox Jews to embrace the IDF, but also how to encourage the IDF to embrace ultra-Orthodox Jews and to create appropriate scalable frameworks which will enable them to genuinely feel comfortable to serve.

Regarding the World Zionist Congress elections, I do not suggest for a moment that a blind eye should be turned to allegations of voter fraud. Suspected breaches of the rules should be thoroughly investigated with appropriate measures taken which ensure the integrity of the results of these elections, and act as a serious deterrent against fraudulent behavior in the future.

I am also more than familiar with questions surrounding the motivations and intentions behind the ultra-Orthodox world’s recent “discovery” of the Zionist movement. Some of their campaign messaging has not assisted in alleviating such concerns. But is the correct response to ban their participation?

We cannot complain about ultra-Orthodox isolationism if we do not create space for them around the table. Whether the traditional slates like it or not, the landscape of the voting membership of the Zionist movement is changing. We cannot control who joins the movement, but we can control how we respond.

We must avoid the knee-jerk response of the politics of division and polarization. Even before October 7, we saw how corrosive such behaviors are, and in a post-October 7 world we simply cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes.

It may be somewhat naïve to do so, but I draw encouragement from the teaching of our Sages that “mitoch she-lo lishma – ba lishma” – extrinsic motivation leads to intrinsic motivation. Does every ultra-Orthodox voter in the WZC elections genuinely believe in Zionism and IDF service? Perhaps not.

But when tens of thousands of individuals are prepared to say that they do, it presents us with a choice. We can adopt the worst characteristics of recent internal Jewish division, or we can take advantage of the ultra-Orthodox influx to work toward a new model of mutuality and coexistence for the Jewish world.

There is no better platform for such a model than the World Zionist Congress. If we take a step back and act for the greater good, a better future might be much closer than we imagine.

The writer is the CEO of World Mizrachi and the rabbi of Ohel Moshe Synagogue in Herzliya Pituach.