Nepotism?
Firestorm Erupts at World Zionist Congress: Likud Pushes Yair Netanyahu for Lavish WZO Role
Explosive nepotism rocks global Zionism: Yair Netanyahu’s last-minute nomination to the World Zionist Organization shatters a delicate power-sharing deal, igniting fury across parties, dividing the Jewish world, and sparking a high-stakes battle over billions in funds, land, and leadership amid Israel’s ongoing crisis.
A last-minute nomination of Yair Netanyahu, the 32-year-old son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for a senior executive post at the World Zionist Organization (WZO) has plunged the 39th World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem into chaos, collapsing a carefully negotiated power-sharing agreement and igniting widespread accusations of nepotism.
Submitted yesterday (Wednesday) by Culture Minister Miki Zohar of Likud, the nomination would place Yair, a Miami-based social media personality with no prior experience in Jewish institutional leadership, on the WZO’s 24-member executive board as head of the Public Diplomacy and Hasbara Department, a role that comes with ministerial-level perks including a salary in the tens of thousands of shekels per month, an official car, dedicated office, staff, and authority over global anti-antisemitism and pro-Israel advocacy programs.
The Congress, often called the “parliament of the Jewish people,” had been on the verge of approving a bipartisan compromise to rotate leadership of Israel’s powerful “National Institutions”, the WZO, Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), Jewish Agency, and Keren Hayesod, which collectively manage over $1 billion annually in Diaspora aid, aliyah support, land preservation, and anti-BDS efforts.
Under the deal, Rabbi Doron Perez of World Mizrachi, whose son Captain Daniel Perez was killed defending a kibbutz on October 7, would chair the WZO for the first 2.5 years, followed by a Yesh Atid nominee; meanwhile, MK Meir Cohen of Yesh Atid would lead KKL-JNF initially, with a Likud representative taking over later.
That agreement shattered within hours of Zohar’s announcement.
Opposition was swift and fierce. Yesh Atid declared the decision “despicable” and vowed not to sign any deal including Yair, while party leader Yair Lapid stated flatly, “It won’t happen. Period.” MK Yair Golan of the Democrats called Yair “a despicable person who has dedicated his life to destruction,” and the Conservative Movement warned it would only support arrangements that unite rather than divide the Jewish world. Even delegates from the reservists’ slate condemned the move, highlighting Yair’s absence from military reserve duty during the ongoing war and his two-year residence in Florida.
Zohar defended the nomination aggressively, accusing critics of hypocrisy and pointing to precedents such as Yanki Deri, son of Shas leader Aryeh Deri, who has headed WZO fundraising since 2020. “The left has appointed dozens of relatives for years,” Zohar said. “This is disgusting hypocrisy. Yair is a passionate Zionist who wants to fight antisemitism abroad and I won’t withdraw the nomination, even if the prime minister asks.”
Supporters echo this, praising Yair’s vocal defense of Israel on social media, despite his history of inflammatory posts targeting the judiciary, media, and IDF leadership, past Shin Bet investigations over alleged leaks from the Prime Minister’s Office, and public confrontations including being booed at hostage rallies in Tel Aviv.
With the coalition agreement dead, the Congress extended its session and postponed all leadership votes for two weeks, leaving current WZO Chair Yaakov Haguel, a Likud-aligned figure, temporarily in place.
The standoff underscores deepening divisions within the global Zionist movement, where Haredi parties secured a record 19 seats despite their historical ambivalence toward Zionism, and Likud dominates the Israeli delegation with 63 of 203 total seats. At stake are billions in donor funds, control of 13% of Israel’s land through KKL, and critical programs supporting Jewish immigration, education, and security worldwide.
Emergency talks are set to resume next week, with center-left factions demanding Yair’s nomination be withdrawn entirely as a condition for any new deal. On X, #YairWZO trends in both Hebrew and English, split between cries of “monarchy” and “anti-Zionist betrayal” on one side, and defenses of “Zionist passion” and accusations of leftist jealousy on the other.
As one widely shared post put it: “Appointing the PM’s son to a six-figure Zionist job while soldiers fight and die? This isn’t leadership, it’s inheritance.”