The U.S. election for delegates to the 39th World Zionist Congress drew 230,257 votes—an all-time record—per preliminary results announced on Thursday night. The 224,237 online votes and 6,020 paper ballots represent more than an 86% increase over turnout in the most recent election, in 2020, in which 123,575 votes were cast.
The election determines which “slates,” or parties, send the 152 U.S. delegates to the congress, which is known as the “parliament” of the Jewish people. The body makes important decisions about how monies are appropriated and which policies are set at Zionist institutions, such as the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Hayesod and KKL-JNF.
“American Jews have spoken,” stated Herbert Block, executive director of the American Zionist Movement, which administers the election.
“Through their record-breaking turnout in the 2025 World Zionist Congress election, they have powerfully demonstrated that Zionism in the United States is not only alive and well but stronger than ever,” Block said. “Thanks to this historic participation in the election, U.S. Jewry is poised to make an indelible mark when the World Zionist Congress gathers in October.”
Six slates that represent Orthodox Jewry—Am Yisrael Chai (31,765 votes), Eretz HaKodesh (29,159), Orthodox Israel Coalition (26,975), Aish Ha’am (6,649), Shas (2,658) and Dorshei Torah V’Tzion (1,946)—secured about 43% of the vote.
Per some news reports, Achdut Israel (1,592), which advocates for families and soldiers impacted by war and terror, is also tied to Orthodoxy, which would mean the movement secured nearly 44% of the votes. (JNS sought comment from Achdut Israel.)
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman emeritus of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, credits Eretz Hakodesh’s successful debut in 2020 for the larger success of Orthodox slates this year.
“I think most people have no clue what the World Zionist Congress is about,” Hoenlein told JNS. “Certainly in Orthodox communities, it was never a big issue until the last time, when Eretz Hakodesh raised the profile and other groups started to organize in a more serious way, and it brought a lot of attention.”
“The truth is that the Orthodox community is in many respects better organized” than the non-Orthodox ones, Hoenlein added.
Each slate is assigned a proportional number of delegates to the congress, based on its vote total. Right-wing groups earned an estimated 81 mandates, compared to the 71 for left-wing and centrist slates. Of those 81 right-wing delegates, at least 70 are expected to go to Orthodox slates, giving them significant bargaining power over priorities such as yeshiva funding and campus outreach.
Vote Reform, the Reform Judaism slate, secured the most votes (47,887), or about 21% of votes cast, which was a more than 4.5% drop since 2020. It is expected to lose seven mandates.
“This is more than just a win for our slate,” stated Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism. “It is a resounding mandate for the values we champion.”
“In a moment of global uncertainty and rising antisemitism, our community stepped forward with clarity and courage to say: we will lead, we will protect democracy and we will build a more just and inclusive future for Jews everywhere,” Jacobs stated.
For the second election in a row, right-wing slates claimed most of the mandates, something that right-wing slates had not done prior to the 2020 vote.
“Ultimately, the real story is not about the political wins and losses. It’s about the vision and values of the Zionist movement itself,” David Yaari, chairman of Kol Israel-Standing Together to Strengthen Israel and the Jewish People, told JNS. “That’s what must be communicated to the record number of voters who showed up.”
Yaari’s slate, which includes StandWithUs and the Zionist youth movement Young Judea, doubled its mandates from two to four this year.
“The true opportunity of the upcoming Zionist Congress in October is to channel this unprecedented energy into something greater—a more resolved, resilient Jewish people, deeply connected to Israel and united around a vision of engagement and impact,” Yaari told JNS.
Some other traditionally high-ranking slates also lost vote share. American Forum for Israel, aligned with the Yisrael Beitenu political party, secured 1,539 votes (0.6%), which is expected to yield a single mandate. In 2020, the slate received 8,096 votes, which translated to 10 mandates.
The ZOA Coalition, which includes Likud party interests, fell from 13 to an expected six mandates, with its vote count falling to 8,511 this year after garnering 10,312 last time around. The Mizrachi slate, a grouping of Modern Orthodox institutions, garnered 18 expected mandates this time around, compared with 27 in the last election, with its votes increasing from 21,692 to 26,975, but still falling as an overall share (about 12%) this time around.
“These results underscore the steadfast dedication of our community,” stated Doron Perez, a rabbi and executive chair of World Mizrachi.
“While this year’s elections in the United States saw a record participation and a major increase in the number of new slates competing in these elections, our community has once again greatly supported our Orthodox Israel Coalition–Mizrachi’s mutual values of deep dedication to the unity of the Jewish people, the primacy of Torah learning and living and the centrality of the land and State of Israel and defending it on the frontlines in the IDF at this critical time,” he stated.
Am Yisrael Chai, a new slate linked to the Olami movement for campus outreach, took almost 32,000 votes, or about 14%. The slate represents college students and young professionals promoting pro-Israel advocacy and Torah values. Eretz Hakodesh, a Haredi slate linked to the United Torah Judaism political party in Israel, took more than 29,000 votes, representing almost 13% of the total ballots cast.
Mercaz USA, representing the Conservative-Masorti movement, came in fourth place, with nearly 28,000 voters, or 12%. Another 17 slates of the record 22 running in the election rounded out the voting. Only 14 slates ran in 2020.
Voting took place electronically and by mail from March 10 until May 4. Israel and other diaspora locations hold their own elections at other times, with the United States delegates representing around one-third of the total congress.
The tallies are not final. The Area Election Committee for the World Zionist Organization, parent of the congress, met on Thursday to pore over multiple allegations of fraud and election violations, some of which have been substantiated, and to begin determining penalties.
The vote total released Thursday does not include nearly 19,000 votes, or around 8% of the total, invalidated due to suspicions of fraud.
The AZM said that five slates “would have benefited from an orchestrated scheme of problematic online registrations and votes involving prepaid credit cards and/or anonymized email addresses.” It added that “a sixth slate received votes resulting from invalid paper registrations and ballots cast on its behalf.”
The Area Election Committee continues to investigate claims and may end up penalizing those involved in violations, delaying a final vote count in the process.
The vote is likely to be certified later this summer after additional hearings and appeals through the American Zionist Movement and World Zionist Organization processes.