New Global Jewish Council aims to connect Diaspora and Israel

To improve international cooperation between Jews in Israel and the Diaspora, Israeli President Isaac Herzog is initiating a process to establish a new 150-member Global Jewish Council.

The Council, which officially begins its work on September 15, is a result of President Herzog’s Kol Ha’am – Voice of the People initiative, launched in May 2023 in response to the growing divide between Israel and the Diaspora.

Shirel Dagan-Levy, CEO of Voice of the People, said the Global Jewish Council is an opportunity for today’s generation to “create a legacy that will guide and inspire future generations.”

“Imagine looking back in 20 years and seeing how each cohort of our council has shaped the development of the Jewish people. Through their recommendations and our collective efforts, we will be able to trace the evolution of our communities and understand the impact we have made.”

The Council consists of 150 people: 50 from Israel, 50 from the US and Canada, and 50 from other diaspora communities, divided into working groups of about 15 people.

Members of the global Jewish community can voice their opinions on what issues they think the Council should address by taking a global poll, now open. The poll asks respondents to select the most important issues for the Council:

Applications for membership in the Global Jewish Council will open on September 15, with the application deadline closing a month later. First-quarter members will be announced by the end of December. The Council’s first meeting will be in March of next year.

Neta Danciger, Chief Marketing Officer of Voice of the People, said: The Jewish Independent that the goal was to create a council that reflected the diversity of world Jewry. The three geographic chambers reflect the fact that 46% of the world’s Jews live in Israel and 40% in the US, and there are also criteria for diversity in terms of gender, religious affiliation, ethnicity, community ties and age, with particular emphasis on including members under 50.

“It’s a whole process to find the diverse cohort we’re looking for and to find the right people. We have a very interesting algorithm that helps us build little microcosms of diversity in different parameters,” she said.

Voice of the People’s original motivation was Diaspora concern over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempted judicial coup. President Herzog launched the initiative after widespread Diaspora criticism of the proposed changes culminated in fierce criticism at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America in April of last year.

Herzog initiated the process as a “Jewish Davos,” which included consultations in 14 international centers, including Melbourne. At the Australian consultation last June, delegates proposed a statement of shared values, a research database and a “diversity minyan” system for the new council.

The Jewish Independent produced the Crossroads23 survey in 2023 to enable broader community input into the process. It showed that while Australian Jews retain a strong core identification with Israel, they are losing faith in the country’s commitment to democracy.

But all this happened before the October 7 crisis and the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which pushed other agendas to the forefront.

Danciger said the war had temporarily derailed the process, but it is now back on track, albeit with a slightly different focus. She cited anti-Semitism as a growing problem since the war began.

Danciger said the council will have the capacity to conduct research and act as an incubator for programs that support the needs of Jewish communities.

However, she said the council cannot be expected to directly influence politics in Israel. “That is not one of our goals. This is not an initiative that deals with Israel. I mean, Israel is connected to everything, but this initiative aims to engage and reflect on the challenges of global Jewry.”