The UK branch of the Orthodox Sephardi movement Shas has won its battle to join the Zionist Federation after a successful appeal to the Zionist Supreme Court in Jerusalem.
Shas Olami UK will now be able to contest elections to send delegates to the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem in October.
The ZF, the umbrella movement for Zionist groups in the UK, had delayed accepting the Sephardi group’s application while it sought to check the level of activities that Shas Olami UK was running here.
But Shas took its case to the court, the judicial body for the World Zionist Organisation.
David Menahem, chairman of Shas Olami UK, said: “The judges of the Zionist Supreme Court have unanimously ruled that the ZF must accept Shas Olami UK as a full member, granting it the right to stand in the upcoming Zionist Congress elections. This landmark decision marks the end of a two-year effort to silence the voice of Sephardi Jews in Britain.”
David Menahem, chair of Shas Olami UK[Missing Credit]
He added: “Looking ahead, we are now preparing for the upcoming elections to the World Zionist Congress, set to take place in the coming months. British Jews will have the opportunity to elect their representatives, and we urge all those who cherish Judaism and Israel to take part in these crucial elections and vote for Shas Olami UK.”
Following the court ruling, a ZF spokesman said: “We are pleased to welcome Shas as a member of the ZF. We are however concerned that the court has in effect downgraded the powers of the local federations. This issue will no doubt be raised at the next WZO Congress in October.”
The ZF added: “We look forward to working with Shas UK to ensure that Zionist programming is available to the diverse Jewish community in the UK. The aftermath of October 7 and the international rise in antisemitism means that Zionists need to face the future with unity and purpose.”
Britain has 19 seats out of 525 at the Congress, which will determine who runs the departments of the WZO for the next five years. WZO representatives also have a significant voice on the Jewish Agency, Keren Kayemet Le’Israel (Jewish National Fund) and Keren Hayesod (United Israel Appeal).
On its website, Shas Olami UK states: “Over the past three decades, the WZO has increasingly fallen under the dominance of left-wing groups, who have disgregarded the appeals of the Torah community to cease the implementation of policies contrary to our values and mekomos hakedoshim [holy places].”
Orthodox Jewry, “the most rapidly growing and vibrant segment” of the diaspora, had “not been adequately represented within these influential circles”.
