50 | MAY 11 • 2023 ERETZ I srael, like most other countries, has a parliament (the Knesset) and considers Jews worldwide to be part of Am Yisrael, the Jewish nation family. How are Jews spread around approxi- mately 80 countries thus represented? “The WZO is the democratically elected parliament of the Jewish people, ” says Tova Dorfman, new World Zionist Organization president and former Oak Park and Farmington Hills resident. “Yet, few Jews around the world really are aware of the WZO or what it does, unless they’re involved. For example, the last WZO elections in 2020 brought out 132,000 voters in the U.S., more than ever and more than double the turnout for the 2015 elections, ” she said, “but still a very small amount of the potential among the 5.5 million or so American Jews. ” Dorfman, 64, took her post Feb. 1. “The president is elected by the executive com- mittee, which includes department heads and partners in the WZO. They met in January, electing me unanimously with no abstentions, ” she said. This occurred follow- ing an agreement between the Likud faction and Yesh Atid, her political home. “I am hopeful that together, all the fac- tions and organizations that are members of the World Zionist Organization will continue to work in unity for the fulfillment of the Zionist vision in the 75th year of our independence, ” said Yaakov Hagoel, WZO chairman. Dorfman’s first formal introduction to world Jewry was at the 39th World Zionist Congress, April 19-21, often referred to as the “parliament of the Jewish people. ” The Congress, which is the WZO’s supreme ideological and policy-making body, makes key decisions on how to allocate some $1 billion annually to support Israel and world Jewry. “One of my goals is awareness, including letting Jews know there are elections every five years, ” Dorfman said. Yet, while elections “do give people the opportunity to vote for something that actually can make the difference, ” she hopes “more people become engaged through involvement with Zionism, organizations that can exercise a lot of influence, and the Zionist enterprise, all stronger in the ’70s and ’80s, ” she said. Twenty-nine percent of the World Zionist Congress’s 500 delegates are elected by U.S. Jews on behalf of their diaspora organiza- tions. “There is a lot of potential to influ- ence policy, ” she said. Issues include equality, access, social and economic justice, and pluralism, which are important to many American Jews. “Ms. Dorfman is taking office in the midst of facing great and important chal- lenges for the Jewish people and the Zionist world, ” Hagoel said. Dorfman is up to the task. Her profes- sional career model is about innovative, cre- ative programming and has been singularly successful in bringing around to the table key individuals and institutions to create an invaluable synergy. She hopes more “get involved in poli- cy making and distribution of funds that reflect the interests of American Jews, Detroit Jews, ” she said. Dorfman is the first woman to fill the position, some 36 years after Ruth Popkin was the first woman to chair the 1987 World Zionist Congress Presidium and Detroiter-Israeli elected president of the worldwide ‘Jewish Parliament.’ New President at WZO NATHANIEL WARSHAY CONTRIBUTING WRITER Tova Dorfman COURTESY OF THE WORLD ZIONIST ORGANIZATION