2 Colorado Delegates Elected to World Zionist Congress

2 Colorado Delegates Elected to World Zionist Congress

The 155 representatives elected from the U.S. will join others from around the world in the Congress to make key decisions on over $1 billion in annual support for Israel and world Jewry.

New York, N.Y., — Two delegates from Colorado have been elected to the 2025 World Zionist Congress (WZC).

The American Zionist Movement (AZM) recently announced the certification of results in the election as well as the allocation of United States seats in the Congress — known as “the parliament of the Jewish people.” The Congress will convene in Jerusalem from October 28 to 30, 2025. 

Colorado-based delegates include Joe Black (VOTE REFORM) and Menachem Lehrfield (Aish Ha’am), both of Denver.

An all-time record 224,969 valid votes were recorded in the election for U.S. delegates to the 39th World Zionist Congress, which took place from March 10-May 4, 2025. The election was administered by AZM, the umbrella Zionist Federation in the U.S.

The final results confirm that participation in the 2025 election, which took place from March 10-May 4, 2025, marked the highest turnout ever in a U.S. Zionist Congress election as well as more than an 80% increase in votes cast in the prior U.S. WZC election in 2020.

The 155 delegates elected from the U.S. — amounting to almost one-third of the elected Congress delegates — will join others from around the world to make key decisions regarding the allocation of over $1 billion annually in support of Israel and world Jewry. 

“Based on the final election results that have been certified today, we can say without question that the Zionist movement in the United States is stronger than ever,” said Herbert Block, Executive Director of AZM. “American Jews’ record-breaking turnout means that the overall U.S. delegation to the 39th World Zionist Congress is positioned to have a greater backing and prominence than ever in advancing a multitude of high-priority Jewish and Zionist causes.”

A record 22 slates representing diverse political beliefs, religious denominations, and cultural traditions competed in the election, which is held once every five years. This represented a 57% surge from the 14 American slates that won seats in the prior Congress in 2020. 

After all open election issues were addressed by the AZM’s Area Election Committee (AEC) and further reviewed by the AZM Tribunal and the World Zionist Organization’s (WZO) Zionist Supreme Court in Israel, the AZM has now certified and released the number of mandates earned by each slate, calculated in accordance with the formula prescribed by the election rules of the U.S. AEC and the WZO.

The final tally of votes by slate in the 2025 U.S. World Zionist Congress election, and corresponding delegates to the Congress is as follows:

SLATEVOTESDELEGATES
VOTE REFORM47,64833
Am Yisrael Chai: Investing in Jewish leadership, fulfilling our destiny30,11421
Eretz HaKodesh: Protecting the Kedusha and Mesorah of Eretz Yisrael28,16519
MERCAZ USA: The Voice of Conservative/Masorti Judaism27,76519
ORTHODOX ISRAEL COALITION (OIC) – MIZRACHI: On the Frontlines for Israel’s Future26,64018
HATIKVAH: The Progressive Slate – Vote for Change & Hope, Vote for a Better Future in Israel11,5058
ZOA Coalition: The 30+ Leading Orgs Defending Jews-Students-Israel-Judea-Samaria8,4026
Aish Ha’am6,5645
Kol Israel – Standing Together to Strengthen Israel and the Jewish People5,2784
Israeli American Council (IAC): A Coast to Coast Community with Israel at Heart and Spirit5,2754
VISION5,2144
AID Coalition (America-Israel Democracy): The Israeli-American Voice to Rebuild Israel4,8443
Beyachad – TOGETHER FOR ISRAEL3,0482
SHAS2,4922
Israel365 Action – Vote AGAINST the two state “solution” and FOR Judea and Samaria!2,3222
Dorshei Torah V’Tzion: Torah and Israel for the Future of All Jews1,9391
The Jewish Future ─ Centrist Liberal Zionism1,7871
ANU: A New Union – A NextGen Big Tent for the Jewish American Consensus1,5041
American Forum for Israel1,4721
Herut North America – The Jabotinsky Movement1,1001
Americans 4 Israel: Strength Through Unity3820
Achdut Israel1,509 (*slate disqualified)0

The Congress in October follows in the footsteps of the First Zionist Congress, convened by Theodor Herzl in 1897 in Basel, where Jewish leaders from throughout the world launched the modern Zionist movement and proclaimed that the Jewish people should have a state of their own.

For election-related questions, contact elections@azm.org or 212-339-6944.

For background on the election, go to https://azm.org/elections/

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