Here's One Thing You Can Do To Fight For Your Values

Take one minute. Vote. For the World Zionist Congress. Yes, it still exists and controls over $1 billion a year – and Jewish Americans get a vote!!

I’m running for Congress. OK, not the Congress you’ve heard of.

I’m running to be a delegate to the World Zionist Congress on the Hatikvah (“The Hope”) slate. Voting starts tomorrow (Monday, March 10).

First, let’s get a few things out of the way:

• Yes, there still is a “World Zionist Congress.”

• Yes, it is the same body Theodor Herzl founded in 1897 before there was an Israel.

• And, finally, yes – you can vote if you are 18, identify as Jewish and pay $5.

If that shocks you, join the club.

But don’t click away until you read this: The World Zionist Congress has a meaningful say in how over $5 billion over 5 years is spent in Israel and Jewish communities worldwide.

Very few people know this, and even fewer bother to vote. Last election – in 2020 – just over 100,000 Jewish Americans participated – and that was considered high turnout.

That means your vote, and a few votes of your immediate family and close friends can make a real difference.

Imagine if just a few thousand people who share our values took this seriously.

So, here, right up front, is the link to register to vote. Voting starts Monday March 10.

The number one question raging in my social media feeds and over dinner with friends is “What Can I Do? What can one person do to change the horrific trajectory it feels like the world is on?”

You must be having the same conversation. Over and over.

The answer – I’ve written before – lies in each of us individually doing a handful of small things – a donation here, a rally there, a conversation with a voter who didn’t support Team Democracy in 2024.

So here is another really tangible and easy item for your “Save Democracy To Do List.”

The World Zionist Congress has a huge say in how real money – over $1 billion a year – raised in Jewish communities all over the world – is going to be spent.

The WZC gets a say in whether your money will fund new settlements on the West Bank or whether it will build a democratic, pluralistic Israel that is committed to peace, equality, freedom and justice?

Not surprisingly, the right wing knows how to mobilize potential voters through its networks.

Those of us in the more liberal and progressive wings of the community are far less organized and engaged – so it will take word-of-mouth from you – yes, YOU – to let 5 or 10 of your friends and family know about these elections and to get them to take the 60 seconds to actually vote starting Monday March 10.

A few thousand votes will make a huge difference.

Here are a few key elements of the platform of the Hatikvah slate on which I’m running:

- We support an immediate and negotiated end to the war in Gaza and call on the government of Israel to prioritize the return of the hostages.

- The policy of permanent occupation and annexation of the West Bank needs to end.

- All citizens of Israel must be treated equally and their civil and human rights protected.

- We support religious and cultural pluralism in Israeli society and in Jewish communities around the globe.

- We support a diplomatic pathway that ensures freedom, security and sovereignty for both Israelis and Palestinians as the only way to break the generational cycle of violence.

I know these values represent the overwhelming majority of Jewish Americans. Now, we have only a few weeks to prove it in an actual election.

You and I and thousands like us who share these values need to get those who agree with us in our community to actually take one minute and $5 to vote and then one more minute to pass this along to a handful of friends and family.

If you want more information about the Hatikvah Slate – click here.

Please sign up now and register and vote starting Monday March 10.

I’ll close with an important note: many good friends and allies of mine personally and J Street organizationally are running on other slates. If there’s another slate that speaks more to you – great.

We simply want Team Democracy to win the largest number of seats and to form a coalition that ensures $5 billion over 5 years is actually spent in accordance with our values.

Please – take this seriously.

Vote and ask your friends and family to do the same.

Thank you in advance for your vote for Hatikvah – or at minimum for taking part in the election at all.