Lamm slams World Zionist Congress for division
The Mizrachi Australia leader has called for non-political leadership to refocus the Zionist movement
Dr Danny Lamm, who led the Mizrachi organisation in Australia’s delegation to the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem, has criticised what he calls its descent into political division.
The veteran Zionist leader says this is a “serious reflection” on the World Zionist Organisation’s leadership.
“The whole thing dissolved into this messy political division,” Lamm said.
“[It’s] a total distraction from the promotion of Zionism worldwide, which is what the WZO should be about.”
Lamm, a former president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, said the congress began auspiciously with democratic elections worldwide that brought out unprecedented numbers.
Australia recorded 7832 votes, with 6842 eligible, representing roughly one in 15 Australian Jews compared with far lower participation rates elsewhere.
However, he said the congress collapsed in its final half-day as delegates divided along left-right political lines, with party apparatchiks pursuing executive positions rather than focusing on Zionist goals.
“The leadership is so poor that the WZO was not capable of following the path that it should be doing,” Lamm said.
He contrasted this with his own leadership approach of bridge-building across political and religious streams.
The Mizrachi movement, which Lamm describes as being formed to be “a bridge between the ultra-orthodox and the reform,” worked extensively to achieve wall-to-wall representation.
However, these efforts were undermined.
“The nomination of [PM Bibi Netanyahu’s son] Yair Netanyahu was a tremendous mistake, very unfortunate, very foolish, and that was the excuse that enabled people on the left, together with the existing chairman, to undermine the agreement,” Lamm said.
He was particularly critical of the Likud party’s division into five competing factions, calling it “shocking” and emblematic of the congress’s failures.
Lamm said the WZO needs “a serious change of leadership with non-political leadership” and should follow Theodore Herzl’s example of not being tied to political movements.
“That’s the reality that people of the WZO need to embrace, and not the pursuit of jobs and influence.”
Lamm also criticised the WZO’s failure to support Zionist federations worldwide, contrasting this with the more professional Jewish Agency.
Despite his disappointment with the congress outcome, Lamm praised Israel itself as “simply fantastic” and the broader congress experience as worthwhile until its political collapse.