With Israeli government’s candidate bowing out, race to head Jewish Agency heats up

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With Elazar Stern out of the race for the top job at the Jewish Agency, an unusual situation has been created: There is no government candidate for one of the most high-profile positions in the Jewish organizational world.

Stern, the intelligence affairs minister, was once considered the front-runner. He withdrew his candidacy Tuesday following the outcry that erupted after he seemed to suggest in a radio interview that he habitually shredded anonymous complaints of sexual harassment when he headed the army’s Manpower Directorate.

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Stern was one of nine candidates aiming to head the executive of the Jewish Agency, which was vacated in June when Isaac Herzog became president of Israel. With Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s blessing, Stern’s candidacy was put forth by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, the head of Stern’s centrist Yesh Atid party. If Stern remained the government’s consensus candidate, he would have had a clear advantage over the competition.

The Jewish Agency board of governors is scheduled to convene on October 26 to approve the candidate chosen by a 10-member nominations committee. But with the race wide open now, it’s possible that the government will request that the decision be delayed until an alternative candidate is selected by Bennett and Lapid.

Another possibility is that the non-Israeli members of the nominations committee, who account for the majority, will offer their own candidate.

Of the major Zionist organizations – also known as the “National Institutions” – three of four are currently headed by representatives of right-wing parties. Keren Hayesod-United Israel Appeal, the largest fundraising body for the State of Israel, is headed by Sam Grundwerg, a Likud appointee. The Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael), which owns large swaths of land around the country, is headed by Avraham Duvdevani, a representative of World Mizrahi, the national religious movement. Finally, the World Zionist Organization is headed by Yaakov Hagoel, the former director of World Likud.

Since Herzog resigned from the Jewish Agency over the summer to take on his new job, Hagoel has been filling in as acting chairman.

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Many of the candidates for the position are members of Likud or affiliated with Likud and the political right. Representatives of the progressive organizations and movements on the Jewish Agency board of governors say it is inconceivable to also hand the Jewish Agency over to Likud, especially considering that it is no longer the ruling party.

Never have there been so many candidates for Jewish Agency chief. According to the agency’s bylaws, nine out of 10 members of the committee must approve the candidate presented to the board of governors.

The committee is comprised of five representatives of the World Zionist Organization, three representatives of the Jewish Federations of North America and two representatives of Keren Hayesod. The panel’s composition is designed to reflect the political and religious breakdown of the different Zionist movements and parties in the World Zionist Congress.

Even before Stern stepped down, his chances of landing the Jewish Agency job were not high because Hagoel, who heads the nominations committee, stacked the panel so as to make it difficult for Stern to win nine of the 10 votes.

The following are the candidates still vying for the job; the nominations committee is expected to finish interviewing them by Wednesday.

Danny Danon, the head of World Likud and former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.

Irena Nevzlin, board chief of the ANU Museum of the Jewish People and wife of Likud lawmaker Yuli Edelstein, who said Monday he was challenging Benjamin Netanyahu for leadership of the party. Nevzlin is considered one of the strongest candidates for the job and enjoys the support of both Hagoel and Michael Siegal, the chairman of the board of governors.

Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, the deputy mayor of Jerusalem. She grew up in London and is the daughter of the former prime minister of Gibraltar. A Likud member, she’s also the co-founder of the UAE-Israel Business Council.

Michal Cotler-Wunsh, a lawyer and former Knesset member for Benny Gantz’s Kahol Lavan party. She entered the Knesset as part of Kahol Lavan’s right-wing Telem faction set up by former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. But Cotler-Wunsh stuck with Kahol Lavan when it formed a unity government with Netanyahu and Ya’alon refused to join. She is the daughter of Irwin Cotler, a prominent human rights lawyer and former justice minister and attorney general of Canada.

Uzi Dayan, a former army general and Likud legislator who has also served as national security adviser.

Michael Oren, a historian and former legislator for the center-right Kulanu party. He served as Israel’s ambassador to the United States from 2009 to 2013, appointed by Netanyahu.

Omer Yankelevich, a former minister of Diaspora affairs and a member of Kahol Lavan. The first ultra-Orthodox woman to serve in the cabinet, she is closely aligned with the settler movement.

Yaffa Zilbershats, a law professor at Bar-Ilan University and the former head of the Council for Higher Education’s planning and budget department. She is Modern Orthodox and known for her close ties to Bennett.