WIZO Florida

14th Av 5770
25th July 2010

To:
Members of the Zionist General Council and its Presidium

Shalom,

The new Zionist General Council was elected by the Zionist Congress which convened in Jerusalem in June this year.

I am honored to become the head of this esteemed body whose task, in accordance with the Constitution of the World Zionist Organization, is to engage in shaping WZO policy on matters and issues on the agenda of the Jewish people, and to hold dialogue with representatives from within Israeli society and Jewish communities around the world.

The Constitution of the World Zionist Organization also determines that in the period between sessions of the Zionist General Council, its Presidium shall represent the WZO in all matters relating to the role of the General Council as a body that deliberates on matters and issues on the agenda of the Jewish people.

I have no doubt that the formulation of these instructions in the Constitution of the World Zionist Organization expresses the importance of this legislative body and the imperative of their implementation, particularly insofar as they relate to items on the agenda of the Jewish people. No less important in this instance is the need to engage in a dialogue between ourselves and representatives of Israeli society and Jewish communities around the world. In so doing, we can enhance and empower the Zionist General Council's activity and bring its deliberations and decisions more closely into line with the Israeli/Jewish reality and their present needs.

For this purpose, I believe it is essential to engage in brainstorming with leading academics and public leadership from Israel and the Diaspora, and to present the outcomes of this process for discussion in order to formulate policy within the framework of the Presidium and the Zionist General Council at the June 2011 meeting.

I shall do everything I can, and this in consultative process with each and every one of you, in order to establish the Zionist General Council as an influential factor in the Zionist movement's leadership modality. This applies equally to the Council's activity in relation to Israeli society and Jewish communities around the world, to molding content appropriate to the principles of Zionism in a changing Jewish world, as well as to ensuring a productive cooperation with the Zionist Executive which is responsible, through the departments, for the implementation of the policy set down by the Zionist Congress and – in the inter-Congress period – by the Zionist General Council and its Presidium.

It remains but for me to thank everyone, in advance, for your cooperation, and to wish ourselves every success in fulfilling the responsibilities laid upon us, and in stabilizing the status of the Zionist movement and the Zionist Idea within Israeli society and the Jewish people, wherever they may be.

With my appreciation and warmest regards,

Helena Glazer