These are: antisemitism, polarisation within the Jewish world, Israel's relationship with global Jewry, relations between Jews and non-Jews, and Jewish identity and heritage. The council has been divided into ten groups of 15 people, each of which will work on one of these issues over the coming two years. The aim is not just to make a “meaningful difference,” but to identify future Jewish leaders.
Herzog first announced his plan in April 2023, at a time when Israel was riven by social unrest over the government’s proposed changes to the legal system. A plan was put in place and a team of talented professionals, many from Israel’s thriving high-tech sector, were recruited to realise Herzog’s vision. Meanwhile, extensive research was carried out in order to identify the main challenges confronting the Jewish people.
Then Hamas launched its murderous attack on October 7 and everything changed.
But by the spring of 2024, as the war in Gaza deepened and antisemitism skyrocketed worldwide, the scheme was revived. A huge research project was initiated and the team launched their dynamic recruitment drive. There were only three criteria that applicants had to meet: they had to be over 18, identify as Jewish and believe in Israel’s right to exist.
At the same time, the tech experts built a “cutting-edge algorithm” that would recruit the council based on more than 150 diversity parameters, Neta Danciger, chief marketing and chief product officer for VoP, told the JC.
“What we wanted to create was a council that’s a microcosm of global Jewry,” she said, explaining that this meant appealing to everyone from the Charedim to the secular and unaffiliated, while also considering many other factors such as age, gender, profession and geographical location.
Around 2,000 applications were received. These were put through the algorithm, which made the initial cut. The next stage involved group interviews after which the whittled down group was again served up to the algorithm, before the final 150 were agreed — all of whom were personally signed off by President Herzog.
Getting to know each other: delegates at the first Voice of the People event in Haifa (photo: Facebook)[Missing Credit]
Speaking to reporters at the conference, Herzog explained that the idea was inspired by his own attendance at the World Economic Forum in 1998 where he was identified as a future leader.
“It impacted me tremendously,” he said. “So I believe we should do it for the Jewish people. I’m dreaming that one day, 50 years down the road, someone will tell a journalist ‘You know I started my involvement in the Jewish story in the Voice of the People’.”
Mr Herzog said that October 7 was a “sea change” for the Jewish community, especially given the subsequent outburst in antisemitism.
“It exploded in our face and our nation has shown such immense resilience together that we should discuss how we deal with it further,” he said. “What is the future of Jewish life anywhere around the globe? How do we develop it, enhance it?”
He said of the council: “It’s not a parliament with rules and regulations - it’s a group of brilliant Jews with incredibly diverse backgrounds who sit together, talk and work and focus on the future of the Jewish people or current challenges.”
The initiative, he believes, will help people from all walks of life get to know each other, work together and navigate the seemingly unbridgeable gaps.
“You have a huge spectrum of Jewish affiliation,” he said, from Charedi Orthodoxy to secularism. “The story is wide and sometimes confusing but at its core there is ahavat Israel, love of Israel, not only of the state. The fact that if anything happens to any Jew around the world, our heart misses a beat.”
During the week the council visited the devastated kibbutzim in the south, as well as the site of the Nova Festival massacre. Back in Haifa they met experts from a broad range of Israeli companies in between intensive discussions within their groups about the road ahead.
If the old adage “two Jews, three opinions” springs to mind, that may be part of the point, according to Dan Sacker, one of the British councillors.
Mr Sacker, a strategic communications consultant who was formerly adviser to the late Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, said: “It was a really interesting group of people, different experiences, different perspectives. You’re disagreeing with each other but you’re doing it respectfully and you’re doing it in a space where you all feel comfortable.”
He went on to say that the former chief rabbi, who died in 2020, would have “absolutely loved” the idea. “He was all about seeking out different opinions, talking, listening, thinking. His perspective was all about bridging relations between Israel and the diaspora, secular and religious, and Jewish and non-Jewish.”
Josh Aronson meets with Israel's President Isaac Herzog[Missing Credit]
Also British is Josh Aronson, the diaspora correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Maariv, who also serves on the board of directors for the Zionist Federation.
Mr Aronson told the JC: “As someone who’s autistic I think that me bringing the disabled voice to the VoP is extraordinary. It shows the diversity of this intense challenge that we have.”
His group, which like all the others are now due to meet once a month online, is focused on the relationship between Jews and non-Jews. He said he does a “lot of interfaith work”, which is particularly important at a time of “intense hatred and antisemitism”.
He said there was “a lot of work ahead of us,” but that he was “optimistic” that the council could bring about change.
Efrat Sopher (photo: University of Haifa)[Missing Credit]
Also UK-based is Dr Efrat Sopher, a Middle East and foreign policy analyst who serves on the executive committee of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) and former vice-president of the S & P Sephardi Community.
She has been assigned to tackle relations between Jews and non-Jews, which she said was her preferred subject. “I really believe that interfaith work can serve as a wonderful avenue to pursue diplomacy,” she said at the end of the conference.
Dr Sopher told the JC she was first inspired to apply after hearing President Herzog address the WJC about the concept.
“It’s more than just bringing people together,” she said.“That call for unity is something that I believe really affects the national security of Israel and it strengthens the security of Jewish communities across the world.”
