Overview
- Likud negotiator Miki Zohar announced a plan to appoint Yair Netanyahu to head the WZO’s Public Diplomacy Department, a role reported to carry minister-like salary and benefits.
- The revelation collapsed a tentative pact between center-left and center-right blocs that would have rotated leadership of the WZO and KKL-JNF over a five-year term.
- Under the shelved arrangement, Rabbi Doron Perez was set to chair the WZO and Yesh Atid’s Meir Cohen to lead KKL-JNF, with the posts switching halfway through the term.
- Delegates voted to extend the 39th World Zionist Congress by two weeks to restart negotiations after the deal fell apart.
- Opposition factions, including Yesh Atid and Conservative movement leaders, signaled they will work to block the appointment as control of bodies directing more than $1 billion annually remains unresolved.