Day: September 4, 2025

By: Abe Wertenheim

The American Zionist Movement (AZM) announced this week the certification of the results of the 2025 World Zionist Congress (WZC) election, marking an unprecedented moment in American Jewish political engagement and global Zionist history. As Israel National News (INN) reported on Thursday. a record-breaking 224,969 valid votes were cast between March 10 and May 4, representing an 80% surge over the 2020 U.S. election for the Congress and the highest turnout ever recorded.

The final certification confirms that the United States will send 155 delegates to Jerusalem for the 39th World Zionist Congress, scheduled for October 28–30, 2025. These American delegates, comprising nearly one-third of the elected global body, will join colleagues from around the world in determining the allocation of over $1 billion annually in support of Israel and the Jewish people worldwide.

“This record-setting turnout underscores that the Zionist movement in the United States is stronger than ever,” said Herbert Block, Executive Director of AZM. “American Jews’ participation ensures that our delegation to the 39th World Zionist Congress will have unparalleled influence in advancing Jewish and Zionist causes of the highest priority,” he added, in remarks cited in the INN report.

The sheer scale of participation stunned veteran observers of Jewish communal politics. According to the AZM, 22 slates representing a vast spectrum of political, religious, and cultural identities competed for seats in 2025, a dramatic increase from 14 slates in the prior election. This 57% growth reflects both the intensifying stakes of Zionist politics and the widening engagement of American Jews across ideological divides.

As the Israel National News report emphasized, the result has redefined the American role in the WZC. “The Congress, following in the footsteps of Theodor Herzl’s original gathering in Basel in 1897, has become the preeminent forum where the Jewish world negotiates identity, policy, and the future of Israel,” INN observed.

The record turnout reveals not only enthusiasm but also deep contestation. Competing visions for the Jewish state—from Orthodox traditionalism to progressive reform, from nationalist right-wing to centrist liberal Zionism—were on display in a campaign that galvanized U.S. Jewish communities from coast to coast.

The certified results, released after review by the AZM’s Area Election Committee, the AZM Tribunal, and the World Zionist Organization’s Supreme Court in Israel, reveal the following breakdown:

VOTE REFORM: 47,648 votes, 33 delegates

Am Yisrael Chai: Investing in Jewish leadership: 30,114 votes, 21 delegates

Eretz HaKodesh: Protecting the Kedusha and Mesorah of Eretz Yisrael: 28,165 votes, 19 delegates

MERCAZ USA (Conservative/Masorti): 27,765 votes, 19 delegates

Orthodox Israel Coalition – Mizrachi: 26,640 votes, 18 delegates

HATIKVAH (Progressive Slate): 11,505 votes, 8 delegates

ZOA Coalition: 8,402 votes, 6 delegates

Aish Ha’am: 6,564 votes, 5 delegates

Kol Israel: 5,278 votes, 4 delegates

Israeli American Council (IAC): 5,275 votes, 4 delegates

VISION: 5,214 votes, 4 delegates

AID Coalition (America-Israel Democracy): 4,844 votes, 3 delegates

Beyachad – Together for Israel: 3,048 votes, 2 delegates

Shas: 2,492 votes, 2 delegates

Israel365 Action: 2,322 votes, 2 delegates

Dorshei Torah V’Tzion: 1,939 votes, 1 delegate

The Jewish Future (Centrist Liberal Zionism): 1,787 votes, 1 delegate

ANU: A New Union: 1,504 votes, 1 delegate

American Forum for Israel: 1,472 votes, 1 delegate

Herut North America (Jabotinsky Movement): 1,100 votes, 1 delegate

Americans 4 Israel: 382 votes, no seat earned

Achdut Israel: 1,509 votes, slate disqualified

The pluralism of these results, as the INN report noted, highlights the broad representation of American Jewish life in global Zionism. From mainstream Reform and Conservative voices to Orthodox and nationalist movements, the Congress mirrors the ongoing debates over Jewish identity, Israel-Diaspora relations, and the moral responsibilities of the Jewish state.

Delegates elected to the World Zionist Congress wield substantial influence. As Israel National News reported, they collectively oversee the distribution of more than $1 billion annually through institutions like the Jewish Agency for Israel, the World Zionist Organization, and Keren Kayemet LeYisrael–Jewish National Fund.

This funding supports an array of programs: immigration and absorption in Israel, Jewish education worldwide, religious and cultural initiatives, land reclamation and afforestation projects, and political advocacy for Israel on the world stage. The allocation battles—shaped by the ideological leanings of delegations—often determine whether funding flows toward settlement activity in Judea and Samaria, pluralistic Jewish education in the Diaspora, or social justice initiatives inside Israel.

“This is why turnout matters so profoundly,” an AZM source told INN. “Each vote influences not just symbolic representation, but the very real budgetary commitments that define the future of Zionism worldwide.”

The World Zionist Congress traces its origins to 1897, when Theodor Herzl convened the first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland. Then, a mere 200 delegates proclaimed the Jewish right to national self-determination, laying the groundwork for the eventual establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.

Today, as the report at Israel National News emphasized, the Congress has evolved into a modern parliament of the Jewish people. It is the only democratically elected transnational Jewish body, empowering Jews from across the globe to weigh in on matters that directly affect Israel and Jewish communities worldwide.

The 2025 gathering in Jerusalem promises to be especially pivotal. With Israel still navigating the aftermath of its wars against Hamas and Hezbollah, questions of security, Diaspora solidarity, and Jewish identity loom large. The WZC will serve as the arena where these issues collide.

The U.S. delegation’s size—155 delegates, nearly a third of the elected total—ensures that American Jews play an outsized role in shaping the Congress’s agenda. As the INN report stressed, this gives American Zionist organizations immense leverage over the ideological and financial direction of global Zionism.

“America’s participation is not only unprecedented in size but also in diversity,” said Herbert Block. “This Congress will hear from every major strand of Jewish life in the United States—from Reform temples to Orthodox yeshivot, from grassroots activists to veteran organizations.”

For U.S. delegates, this also represents an opportunity to assert Diaspora perspectives on pressing Israeli issues, including religious pluralism, settlement expansion, and the evolving U.S.-Israel relationship.

The campaign leading up to the 2025 WZC was not without controversy. As the INN report noted, debates over settlements, the two-state solution, and religious pluralism often became flashpoints. Some slates, such as Israel365 Action, explicitly campaigned against a two-state framework and for expanded sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, while others, such as Hatikvah, pushed for progressive reforms and greater emphasis on human rights.

Meanwhile, the disqualification of Achdut Israel raised eyebrows. Though details remain sparse, the AZM confirmed that the slate failed to comply with election rules, underscoring the rigorous oversight processes in place to ensure fairness.

When delegates gather in Jerusalem in October, they will not only debate budgets and ideology but also confront the deeper existential questions facing Zionism in the 21st century. How should Israel balance its identity as a Jewish and democratic state? What role should Diaspora communities play in Israeli decision-making? How should global Zionism respond to rising antisemitism, shifting U.S. political landscapes, and new geopolitical realities?

As the Israel National News report observed, these debates will resonate far beyond the walls of the Congress. “The WZC is where the Jewish people worldwide articulate their priorities, assert their values, and shape the institutions that define Israel and Diaspora Jewry alike,” the outlet wrote.

The certification of the 2025 U.S. WZC election results represents more than just a bureaucratic milestone. It signals a renewed vitality in American Zionism, a willingness among nearly a quarter-million Jews to participate in shaping the destiny of Israel and the Jewish people.

As Herzl envisioned in Basel 128 years ago, the Zionist Congress remains a beacon of Jewish self-determination. And as Israel National News concluded in its coverage, “With record-breaking turnout and unprecedented representation, American Jewry has reaffirmed that its voice remains central to the future of Israel and Zionism.”

When the Congress convenes in Jerusalem this fall, the eyes of the Jewish world will be upon it. In its debates and decisions will lie not only the allocation of billions of dollars but the very contours of the Jewish future.

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American Dream Mall Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Blue Law Violation

By:  Ariella Haviv

When the American Dream megamall finally opened its doors in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 2019, it was hailed as a $5 billion vision of consumer escapism: three million square feet of retail, indoor ski slopes, a DreamWorks-branded water park, and roller coasters within a half-hour bus ride of Manhattan. Yet just five years later, the glittering complex finds itself ensnared in an old and uniquely local controversy—New Jersey’s enduring blue laws.

As The New York Times recently reported, the borough of Paramus filed a lawsuit this week in New Jersey Superior Court, accusing American Dream’s operators of deliberately and repeatedly violating Bergen County’s centuries-old prohibitions on Sunday retail. At issue is whether the mall’s more than 120 tenants are permitted to sell clothing, furniture, appliances, and other restricted goods on Sundays, despite prominent signage on the New Jersey Turnpike declaring “ALL STORES OPEN SUNDAYS.”

The clash between one of North America’s largest shopping centers and a vestige of 18th-century moral regulation exposes a deeper cultural tension: the push-and-pull between commercial ambition and community preservation, between a county’s appetite for tranquility and the relentless economic drive of a retail giant.

Blue laws have their origins in America’s Puritan past. New Jersey’s specific statute descends from the 1798 Act to Suppress Vice and Immorality, legislation designed to preserve the Sabbath by restricting commerce and leisure. Bergen County’s version is particularly stringent: under state law, its residents cannot purchase clothing, furniture, household appliances, or building materials on Sundays. Violators face fines of $250 to $5,000 and even potential jail time.

While most counties abandoned such restrictions during the late 20th century, Bergen County voters chose in 1980 to uphold them, primarily out of concern for traffic. Paramus, in particular, is a retail epicenter, boasting three major malls and miles of strip malls along Route 17, where Saturday congestion is legendary. A quiet Sunday, free of mall-induced gridlock, became a cherished respite.

As the NYT report noted, generations of Bergen residents have defended the policy as a civic blessing. “It’s so wonderful driving around without all that traffic,” Judy Fitzpatrick, a 73-year-old retiree, told the paper. For many, blue laws are less about morality than about quality of life.

The Paramus lawsuit argues that American Dream has flouted these restrictions from the start. The complaint lists “tens of thousands” of alleged violations across at least 29 Sundays, accusing the mall of permitting its tenants to sell restricted merchandise without restraint.

Paramus officials insist this is not mere oversight but willful disregard. In 2012, as Triple Five—the Canadian conglomerate behind American Dream—sought state approvals, its development president Tony Armlin promised regulators that the mall would honor Bergen County’s Sunday rules. Yet in practice, mall operators now argue the opposite: that because American Dream sits on land owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (a state entity), county laws do not apply.

“The lawsuit is a meritless political stunt driven by private competitors’ interests,” said mall spokesman Gregg Schwartz, asserting that “Bergen County’s blue laws do not apply to property owned by the State.”

This pivot in legal interpretation, the NYT report observed, highlights the murkiness of enforcement. While the laws are clear, who has jurisdiction to enforce them—the county, the state attorney general, or the sports authority—remains unsettled. “They certainly don’t have blue law police running around,” remarked James Cassella, former mayor of East Rutherford, who helped negotiate the project.

The lawsuit does not target American Dream alone. It also names Bergen County, East Rutherford, and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, arguing that all have abdicated responsibility. Paramus Mayor Christopher DiPiazza accused county leaders of turning a blind eye. Bergen County Executive James J. Tedesco III said he had repeatedly asked State Attorney General Matthew Platkin and the sports authority to intervene but was ignored.

“When American Dream was preparing to open, its operators personally assured me and the state that they would honor the Sunday closing law,” Tedesco told reporters. “They broke that promise.”

The sports authority declined comment, while the attorney general’s office also remained silent. This institutional ambiguity has left enforcement in limbo, enabling the mall to operate freely despite what local leaders insist is a clear violation.

Inside American Dream itself, opinions are split. For some, the blue laws are archaic barriers to convenience. “Staying open on Sunday is more convenient,” said Yaritza Nieves, a 25-year-old receptionist from Elizabeth, to the NYT. “You need to get things done.”

Others argue that the mall, after years of delays and billions in subsidies, needs full operating freedom to generate revenue. Jake Starmer, a Manhattan resident visiting with his family, told the paper that American Dream “needs to continue to provide jobs. It’s an investment that needs to be paid for.”

Yet for many Bergen County residents, the benefits of a quiet Sunday outweigh the mall’s economic needs. The community’s support for blue laws has endured even as neighboring counties abandoned them. As one resident put it: “It’s one day of peace, and we’re not ready to give that up.”

American Dream is not just a mall; it is a financial experiment. As the NYT has chronicled, its development spanned more than 15 years, absorbing $5 billion in public and private investment. Its fortunes have been rocky, marked by construction delays, bankruptcies, and the pandemic. Today, the mall’s operators are under pressure to generate cash flow, making Sunday sales particularly attractive.

The lawsuit’s potential outcomes could significantly impact the mall’s trajectory. If Paramus prevails and the mall is forced to shutter key retail operations on Sundays, it risks losing substantial revenue. If the mall succeeds in asserting state exemption, it could fundamentally undermine Bergen County’s long-cherished blue laws, sparking fierce local backlash.

As The New York Times report observed, this fight reflects a broader cultural debate. Blue laws across America were once ubiquitous, policing everything from alcohol sales to sporting events. Today, they survive in only a handful of counties, relics of a more restrictive era. Yet in Bergen County, they have become less about morality than about lifestyle—protecting residents from traffic, over-commercialization, and seven-day consumer culture.

American Dream, by contrast, represents the globalized, 24/7 retail model—an entertainment and shopping juggernaut designed to rival Dubai or Las Vegas. Its collision with Bergen’s idiosyncratic laws dramatizes the tension between local tradition and global commerce.

The case now before the courts could reshape not only American Dream’s operations but the future of Bergen County’s blue laws. Should judges affirm that the mall’s state-owned land places it beyond county jurisdiction, other operators could push to erode the restrictions. If, however, the court compels enforcement, American Dream may face substantial fines and forced closures.

For now, the mall’s operators remain defiant, the county leadership frustrated, and residents sharply divided. What is certain, as the NYT reported, is that the debate touches more than just shopping: it touches how a community defines its rhythm of life.

American Dream’s clash with Paramus is a test of values as much as law. Will Bergen County preserve the quiet Sundays its residents have long cherished, or will economic pressures from a $5 billion megamall tilt the balance toward perpetual commerce?

As The New York Times report emphasized, the issue goes beyond jurisdictional squabbles: it is a confrontation between a community’s desire for peace and a retail empire’s demand for profit. The outcome will determine not only the fate of one mall but the endurance of one of America’s last surviving blue laws.

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