Opposition leader Lapid withdraws Yesh Atid party from World Zionist Congress deal after attempt to appoint PM's son sparks uproar

The World Zionist Congress (WZC), which saw several setbacks in its attempt to finalize new leadership appointments across major Zionist institutions, faced yet another setback on Wednesday after Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid announced that his party would withdraw from the organization. 

“This evening, I want to announce that Yesh Atid has decided it will not be part of any of the agreements in the Zionist institutions. We will not take jobs, we will not take budgets, we will not take managerial positions, and we will not be part of the deal being stitched together there,” Lapid said in a statement on Wednesday evening. 

Yesh Atid’s withdrawal marked the latest in a string of collapsed agreements that have plagued the 39th World Zionist Congress this year.

A previous agreement, which appeared likely to pass, suddenly collapsed when Likud Minister Miki Zohar attempted to secure an executive position for Yair Netanyahu, the son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to Hebrew media reports, that position would have provided the younger Netanyahu with a car, an office, and a salary equivalent to a government minister. 

Despite warnings from multiple parties that they would not support the agreement, Zohar pressed ahead with the proposal, which many in the opposition have condemned as nepotism.

The agreement, which was negotiated prior to the WZC meeting in Jerusalem, would have seen several power-sharing arrangements, in which several appointees would serve half-term roles before passing their positions to representatives from other parties.

However, on Wednesday, Lapid announced that Yesh Atid would no longer participate in “a culture of corruption and political appointments.” 

Instead, Lapid said his party would submit legislation in the Knesset to nationalize organizations like the Jewish National Fund (JNF) or Keren Kayemet LeYisrael (KKL). 

Lapid argued that the best way to “clean up this organization and the other national institutions is to bring them under state law, state audit, and the strictest transparency regulations.” 

While Lapid has previously criticized several Zionist organizations over corruption, he said Yesh Atid had remained in them to “clean” them up. 

“We entered politics to fight corruption, not to be part of a system to arrange jobs for the Netanyahu family and the Deri family,” Lapid said, referring to Shas party chairman, Aryeh Deri. “We wanted to clean the national institutions of the culture of corruption and political appointments – but it’s not possible.” 

Lapid’s withdrawal from the WZC upends what had seemed like a workable solution negotiated over the weekend – a power-sharing arrangement that would have divided several executive roles between Netanyahu’s Likud party and Yesh Atid.

Lapid said the attempted appointment of Yair Netanyahu to a 'cushy' job was not the only problem, saying that it was “just the tip of the iceberg.” 

He described the new agreement as perpetuating “an entire culture of corruption.” 

“The new agreement includes, for example, the creation of seven new departments with countless employees that all have one thing in common: they’re not necessary,” Lapid argued. 

“I call on the other political parties to reconsider whether they are willing to be part of an agreement that is so clearly an act of corruption and dirty politicking,” Lapid said. “We, in any case, will not be there.” 

World Zionist Organization Vice Chairman Yizhar Hess decried the blowup of the previous agreement that collapsed following the “unacceptable” attempt to create a job for Yair Netanyahu. 

“Yesterday, we at the national institutions were on the cusp of an historic, balanced agreement that would have united the Jewish people and positioned us to meet the challenges facing Israel and the Jewish world,” Hess stated. 

The WZC has often provided a platform for non-Israeli Jewish groups to debate and discuss issues they consider to be important to the global Jewish body, allowing them to influence the Israeli Knesset. At the same time, because these groups are organized along Israeli political party lines, the WZC also gives Israeli politicians significant influence in the global Zionist community.