The elections for the American delegation to the World Zionist Congress are underway, and unlike a normal election, voters have over a month to make their choice. One of the major delegations from the 2015 election was the Orthodox slate, under the name of Vote Torah. They have emerged in the 2020 election as the Orthodox Israel Coalition, or OIC.
OIC has a strong affiliation with many of the premiere Orthodox and Modern Orthodox Zionist groups around the world. Mizrachi, AMIT, the Orthodox Union (OU), the RCA, Yeshiva University, Touro and the National Council of Young Israel are all partnered with OIC. This goes back to 1902, when Mizrachi led the way in bringing the Orthodox community into a Jewish parliamentary system headed by a non-affiliated Jew, Theodor Herzl.
“Most religious Jews didn’t know how to stomach a secular Jew leading the charge for a Jewish state,” says Rabbi Doron Perez, the chief executive of the Mizrachi World Movement. The Mizrachi Movement was mobilized by a group of religious Jews who felt that it was imperative to partner with all Jews for this cause.
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The words of this author reflect his/her own opinions and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Orthodox Union.