The 39th World Zionist Congress gathered in Jerusalem in October 2025, and following the Congress, Rabbi Doron Perez became the new President of the World Zionist Organization (WZO) for a five-year term. Rabbi Aron White spoke with Rabbi Perez about his new role, and his vision for the future of Zionism and Israel in the coming years.

The World Zionist Organization was founded by Theodor Herzl in 1897. In 2025, what is the goal of the WZO?

In 1897, the goal of the Zionist movement was to establish a homeland in Eretz Yisrael. Fifty-one years later, Israel became the first Jewish sovereign state in 2,000 years. Today, the focus is on protecting, supporting, and educating toward the centrality of the State of Israel for Jewish identity and destiny.

October 7th showed us that Jewish statehood is not guaranteed. We focused on the existential threats of a nuclear Iran and Hezbollah but underestimated other threats. Had Hezbollah’s Radwan fighters invaded Israel’s north, Iran launched 500 missiles, and Palestinians from East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria attacked adjacent Jewish towns, Heaven forbid, Israel could have been destroyed. We’re grateful for G-d’s protection, but it’s clear we can’t take Israel’s survival for granted.

For two years, Israel fought a war on multiple fronts, and Jewish communities worldwide faced increasing threats due to their ties to Israel. In 2025, the term “Zionist” is under attack, as anti-Zionism has become the new antisemitism. ‘Zio’ is the pejorative for Jews as Jude was in Nazi Germany. Educating about Zionism and the importance of Jewish sovereignty for the Jewish and human future is more crucial than ever.

You have been appointed as the new President of the WZO for a five-year term. What are your goals between now and 2030?

As the new President of the WZO, I see two key roles: one internal, focusing on Jewish unity, and the other external, advocating for Zionism and Jewish sovereignty.

October 7th made it crystal clear: the most urgent focus for the Jewish people is our internal cohesion. I had the privilege of publishing a book entitled The Jewish State, focusing on Jewish unity, just six months before the attack. It was based on Rabbi Kook’s teachings, and if it was relevant before, it’s even more so now. The internal divisions over judicial reform nearly tore us apart. We became distracted and weakened from within, and our enemies exploited that. What followed was the worst day in Jewish history since the Shoah.

The WZO is the ideal platform to play a unifying role, with its diverse geographic and ideological membership: 40% from Israel, 30% American Zionists, and 30% from all other global Zionist movements. It represents all ideologies, from ultra-Orthodox and ultra-nationalist to ultra-progressive and ultra-liberal. But October 7th taught us something vital: our enemies don’t care what kind of Jew we are. Whether in Israel or Jewish communities worldwide, every Jew is under threat – this ought to prod us to focus on what unites us. The WZO serves any Jew who identifies as a Zionist, and we must fight not just against anti-Zionism, but also educate on the importance of Jewish sovereignty in our historic homeland.

The second goal is outward-facing – advocating for the pivotal role Zionism and Jewish sovereignty in Eretz Yisrael play for the betterment of humanity. Firstly, no nation on earth has a deeper, more justified connection to its land than the Jewish people to Israel. The malicious blood libel of anti-Zionism, which equates Zionism with racism, emerged at the UN 50 years ago. This is a challenge, but also an opportunity for us to educate about Israel. Zionism is not racism; it’s a blessing, as promised to Abraham – to be a blessing to all humanity. As Douglas Murray said, Zionism is not only good for Jews but for the whole civilized world – upholding freedom, liberty, and the values that are vital to the future of Western civilization.

How will you balance your role as Executive Chairman of the World Mizrachi movement with your responsibilities as President of a non-partisan organization that represents such a diverse range of parties within world Jewry?

All of life is a balancing act. We constantly balance between our physical and spiritual lives, our personal and collective responsibilities, and many other aspects of life. This will be another balancing act – between two privileged roles: Executive Chairman of the World Mizrachi movement and now President of the broader World Zionist Organization.

Our Religious Zionist view is one of bridge-building, respect, and cooperation. This was evident in how our Mizrachi delegation to the Congress conducted itself in various committees where resolutions were being pulled to extremes. Our delegates found ways to respectfully bridge gaps – this is the spirit we aim to bring to our roles in the global Zionist movement. As representatives of Mizrachi worldwide, we are committed to supporting Religious Zionist activities, ensuring that our educational initiatives and programs receive as much support as possible.

We also aim to represent our communities worldwide in the decisions and policies of the World Zionist Organization, ensuring that our ideology plays an influential role in shaping the organization’s direction. It is absolutely critical, especially in today’s challenges, that we put the needs of the Jewish people above partisan divides in order to address these issues.

The National Institutions of the Zionist movement were not created to provide roles or positions for individuals or any specific party. They were created so that individuals and parties could contribute to advancing the Zionist endeavor. We should enter any role not asking what it can do for us, but what we can do for it.

I’ve seen firsthand how Mizrachi’s bridge-building role is vital in fostering unity. Some groups may push to the extremes and create division, but Mizrachi has consistently played a unifying role. This was especially clear during the judicial reform debates, which threatened to tear the World Zionist Organization apart. The World Zionist Organization is not the Knesset, and it doesn’t have any jurisdiction in the decision-making process of many of the contentious issues roiling Israel – religion and state, the Charedi draft, or sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. Its mission is different yet no less important – to advocate and educate on the pivotal role of Jewish statehood to Jewish and human destiny. On a practical level, the World Zionist Organization has given Diaspora Jews a voice in these decisions and allowed us to support our communities.

Could you provide tangible examples from your tenure at World Mizrachi of how the National Institutions provide value to Jewish communities around the world?

During our time heading various departments, such as the Chativa LeHityashvut (Rural Growth and Development Division), which Gael Grunewald led in recent years, we helped rebuild devastated communities in the North and South as a result of the debilitating war. Our Department of Education, which Roi Abecassis headed and will now be led by Gael, has dispatched hundreds of educators annually to Jewish schools around the world. Our Shlichut Center, led by Rabbi Hillel Van-Leeuwen and supported by the National Institutions, dispatches and supports around 600 shlichim annually across Religious Zionist shlichut organizations like Sherut Leumi, Bnei Akiva, Torah MiTzion, Mizrachi, and our partners at Machon Amiel of Ohr Torah Stone. We work to ensure that as many shlichim as possible serve in Jewish communities globally.

We’ve also heavily invested in our affiliated network of 42 Religious Zionist yeshivot and midrashot, where around 3,000 young men and women learn each year. These institutions and their gap year programs are the engine of the future of our global Religious Zionist community. We invest in fundraising initiatives, Yom HaZikaron ceremonies, trips to the South, and much more to ensure transformative experiences for our future leaders.

In partnership with OU-JLIC, we’ve heavily invested in Jewish campus life at Israeli universities to help our Modern Orthodox and Religious Zionist students transition smoothly and build strong Jewish communities.

These are just a few examples of how the National Institutions offer opportunities to impact the course of Zionism, while also facilitating support for our communities worldwide.

In the major leadership roles we will have the privilege of holding, as well as in important committees within both the WZO and KKL, I foresee, b’ezrat Hashem, a significant impact – both within these organizations and in shaping the future of Zionism. These organizations will play a crucial role in supporting both the future of Zionism and our global Religious Zionist communities.