Jewish unity and the rebranding of Zionism are the chief priorities of World Mizrachi executive chairman Rabbi Doron Perez in his new role as World Zionist Organization president, he told The Jerusalem Post in an interview, believing that the organization’s ecumenical structure could be utilized to implement a vision of national brotherhood inspired by his son, who fell fighting against the October 7 massacre.
Perez became president of the WZO after a lengthy and tumultuous World Zionist Congress negotiation process that culminated in November, with one of his goals in office being the “reimagining and the rebranding of Zionism.”
“No mark of identity is more under threat to a Jew today than Zionism,” said Perez.
Zionist has become a pejorative term
The new WZO president explained how “Zionist” has been turned into a pejorative, as it has become acceptable to attack the self-determination of the Jewish people and disengage from those who cleave to the idea.
The brand has been attacked since the inception of the ideology and the beginning of the State of Israel, according to Perez, with highlights such as the 1975 United Nations General Assembly resolution declaring that Zionism is a form of racism.
Zionism has been cast as a genocidal and colonialist movement rather than what Perez sees as the expression of a historic, religious, and moral connection to a land, arguably deeper and longer than that of any other people.
“Whereas Zionism and the centrality of Israel on the Land of Israel are supposed to be such a source of blessing, and which [they are] in the world, many interpret [them] as a curse, like where Balak the king brings in Balaam to curse the Jewish people instead of taking all their blessings and seeing them for what they are,” said Perez.
“I think that the World Zionist Organization is the organization that is responsible for Zionism in the world, obviously, along with the State of Israel. So, to my mind, focusing on what Zionism means, especially to a younger generation, the blessing in Zionism, and combating anti-Zionism, those who see it as a curse, is absolutely critical.”
The lies about Israel have been magnified by social media, and Perez is concerned about a younger generation that doesn’t have a natural affinity with Israel, as do those who grew up within living memory of the Holocaust. Yet within the crisis of the October 7 massacre is also an opportunity, with interest in Jewish life being sparked for those who see how Israel has been unfairly maligned. Perez feels that these “October 8 Jews,” who come from varied backgrounds, could be brought into the fold by the pluralistic nature of the WZO.
One campaign that Perez wants to advance is greater investment in early Jewish education, noting that only 5% of Jews in the United States go to Jewish day schools. The WZO and United Israel Appeal should consider how to get as many Jewish children as possible into the Jewish school system. He also noted that much of the investment in Jewish and Zionist education has been only later in life, when it might already be too late.
“Perhaps there should be a major investment in Jewish and Zionist education. Many of the big Zionist projects that have been involved from Israel are unbelievable projects – Birthright, Masa. They all start from a gap year and older. But I wonder if in some ways it’s not a little too late,” said Perez. “Maybe there should be a focus on 10th-grade programs. More and more kids are coming in 10th grade. It’s a very impressionable time. Maybe there should be a couple key performance indicators of trying to fund to get as many Jewish kids to go to Jewish camps and Jewish day schools, to have an immersive Jewish and Zionist experience.”
Unifying world Jewry
Perez’s other priority is to engender Jewish unity. It would be shameful if, after the 2023 Hamas-led pogrom in southern Israel, Jews couldn’t get their act together.
He recalled that, until October 7, 2023, Israeli and Jewish society was fraying amid the judicial reform debate. He said he could not forget organizing back-to-back lectures on the reform by proponents and opponents of the legal overhaul, but demonstrations against the pro-reform speaker refused to even allow anyone to listen to the other side.
“We got to a point that we couldn’t actually hear what the other side had to say, and we were just losing any common ground, common conversation,” said Perez. “Then we woke up to October 7, to this terrible, rude awakening where our enemies came along and said, ‘We actually don’t care what side of the judicial reform you are on. We don’t care where you stand politically, whether you are left or right, or religious or secular, or even whether you are Jewish.’”
There was a sense, in the early shock of the October 7 massacre, that everyone was “all in this together,” but Perez can’t help but feel that “we’ve gone back a little bit to those [prewar] days now.”
Disunity is a problem that has plagued the Jewish people since the times of the Bible, Perez reminded, and is something that the nation has had to constantly struggle with. Yet the reason that Israel fought itself is the dark side of a positive trait, national brotherhood. The Mizrachi chairman noted that in Hebrew, civil war is called a “war of brothers,” which is indicative of Jewish thought on internal struggle within the people of Israel.
“We know that brothers and siblings often fight more than others. Why? Because they’re closer. Each one threatens the other one. If you grew up in the same household with the same parents, and you feel so differently about things... If some stranger feels differently, they have less skin in the game,” said Perez, “they don’t threaten you. So I do feel at the core of family is such a sense of we’re in it together.”
In the problem is also a solution, according to Perez, as while brothers fight, they are still brothers.
The WZO president recalled the loss of his son Daniel, a tank commander who fell in battle on October 7, and whose body was abducted into Gaza until finally being returned in a ceasefire deal in October. Daniel was buried twice – once, just his uniform, and the second time, he himself was finally laid to rest in just rites. It was at the second burial that Perez said, “We may be one of the smallest nations in the world and the smallest people in the world, but we are the largest family. To be part of the Jewish people means to be part of the Jewish family.”
Perez got to know the families of the fallen soldiers who fought alongside Daniel in his tank, people from all different walks of life. He heard, in internal communication recordings, how the four warriors had fought in unison and self-sacrifice to save as many lives as possible. These virtuous qualities could be seen in the familial character of Israelis, as they flew in from around the world to join the fight against Hamas, and how people called for paying a heavy price for the return of captives, not because they were willing to sacrifice for fellow citizens, but because they were willing to sacrifice for people they saw as their family.
“You are part of a family. And so, yes, you can argue, but you’re in it together,” said Perez. “Are you going to banish your brother? The solution has to be [that] we’re family. And when your family is in it together, when you are family, it doesn’t matter who’s right or wrong. There are always going to be arguments. People are different, and there should be arguments and unity, and unity is not uniformity. There will always be different viewpoints. But the question is: Is it more important who’s right, or is it more important to preserve the integrity of the relationship?”
Perez asked others to consider their own families or marriages, how what’s important is not being right but finding a path forward together.
“No one thinks unity should be uniformity,” said Perez. “There should be debates, but not to lose a sense of common destiny, of common fate in the process. And I just feel that the World Zionist Organization is an ideal platform to play a unifying role.”
Perez argued that the WZO is the most diverse Zionist organization in terms of geography, ideology, and religious denomination. The organization does not operate in the “majority takes all” governance manner of national politics, like in Israel and the US, but through full consensus of all the parties.
“I think we are strongest when we are unified. That doesn’t mean that there can’t be disputes, but we have to find a way,” said Perez.
He was drawn to the role of the presidency of the WZO because he believes that it has the capacity to heal divisions within the Jewish family.
The WZO has a chairman and a president, the latter of which is usually a more ceremonial role. In the original World Zionist Congress coalition agreement, Perez had been set to be the chairman for half a term of two-and-a-half years, then rotate with a representative from another slate. Yet the coalition agreement collapsed, and extended almost two weeks with a total of four different deal versions. At one point, the chairmanship had been divided into three rotations to satisfy the demands of another party.
Perez hadn’t come “looking for a job” but to “come and make a difference,” and he didn’t think that just over a year as chairman would grant him the opportunities to make long-lasting change. In the course of negotiations, the WZO presidency was expanded from a ceremonial role to a paid position with infrastructure and responsibilities. Perez felt that the expanded presidency suited him better than having a chopped chairmanship.
“A presidency, in general, is a more unifying role. It’s one which is in some way supposed to be above politics,” said Perez. “I felt, since I ultimately want to bring about more unity and deal with the Zionist brand, that this was a better platform to be able to do it, maybe with slightly less authority than chairmanship, but a longer tenure and a broader platform.”
Perez addressed some of the infighting and cronyism within the national institution he seeks to use to bring unity to the nation, arguing that the divisions and arguments reflected the divisions in Israeli politics. There is a lot to improve, but he noted that the solution is not nationalization, as was suggested by Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, as this would not make the national institutions better, but more beholden to the divisive scenes in Israeli politics.
With a longer tenure secure, he wants to work to make others see the Jewish state and the Zionist endeavor as a great blessing to the Jewish people and “human destiny.”
“The mission is to find ways that we can come together to move Jewish statehood forward. To put forward Jewish statehood and Zionism is absolutely integral to the Jewish future and to the human future,” said Perez.
“[Israel] is not a problem in the Middle East. It’s one of the great bulwarks of freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of human dignity. And I firmly believe that the more we’re able to do it together, to seek as broad a consensus as possible – that is the extent to which we will succeed.”