Our official pronouncements, videos, prayers and content related to the conflict against terrorist organization Hamas that have erupted in Israel in October 2023.

Israel at War

Leaders' voice

Op-eds, information and update on the The World Zionist Congress

The World Zionist Congress

MERCAZ Values

Read more about our achievements and activities

Achievements & Publications

Read more about our achievements and activities 

Find out more about what MERCAZ Olami has been working on.

News and Events

The initial effort to extend Conservative Judaism’s embrace of Zionism beyond the United States was launched by Rabbi Bernard Segal, who served as executive director of United Synagogue of America (later United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism) from 1953 to 1970. As noted by historian Dr. Pamela Nadell, “Segal envisioned bridges to world Jewry, a vision that enabled Conservative Judaism to gain international stature. In 1957, he and a handful of colleagues founded the World Council of Synagogues to implement…Conservative Judaism in Israel and Jewish communities throughout the world.”

Article | The Global Zionism of Conservative Judaism — the World Council and MERCAZ

In the aftermath of a controversial Knesset vote amending the Israeli judiciary’s “reasonableness clause,” commentator Dan Senor said:
“Thirty weeks of massive protests. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis turning out every Saturday night since January…. Israel’s 150 largest companies staging a strike…. Threats from army reservists that they would not any longer volunteer to serve…. Is Israel falling apart?”
An alternative perspective has been offered by Haviv Rettig Gur of the “Times of Israel”: Israel, a young nation, is not “falling apart,” he says, but rather “maturing.” In the absence of a constitution, after decades of a tug-of-war power struggle between the courts and the Knesset, Israel is struggling to seek resolution.
As lovers of Israel in the Diaspora what should we do?

How should American-Jewish supporters of Israel respond to the judicial overhaul controversy?

By Rabbi Alan Silverstein, Ph.D. MERCAZ Olami, President

But things feel different today. Same same - but different. The beauty of the fields, forests, grazing cows along the way; the pleasure of seeing our young grandchildren playing together and our kids building their lives was the same as they have been for years. But the recent vote of 64 to 0 which begins the transformation of the Supreme Court –a basic institution in a democracy—to a tool of increasing the power and control of the government, shades everything in a new, dark light.

Same Same –But Different

By Emily Levy-Shochat, MERCAZ Olami, President

Israeli society is divided between proponents of and opponents to a proposed judicial reform program. Demonstrations and counter-demonstrations are taking place with unprecedented frequency and magnitude.

This is not a conflict between the Right and the Left; it is, rather, a competition between the party in power and the parties leading the opposition. A similar pattern was evident during the 29 years of Menachem Begin’s term as head of the Herut party, when he led the opposition to the dominant Labor Party of David Ben-Gurion in the Knesset.

Diaspora Jewry joins Israeli voices seeking judicial compromise

The Israeli conflict over “Who is a Jew?” is resurfacing in 2023.
A prominent Jewish identity controversy was the 1963 “Brother Daniel Case.” Shmuel Oswald Rufeisen was born a Jew in Poland in 1922, but converted to Catholicism during the war, assumed the name Daniel, and eventually became a priest. Daniel claimed he was still a Jew and sought to attain automatic citizenship under the Law of Return when he moved to Israel. The Israeli government ruled against him due to his Christian conversion; the decision was upheld by the Supreme Court.

The return of “Who is a Jew?”

The Legal Significance of Israel’s Declaration of Independence

Israel’s Declaration of Independence

When I became President of MERCAZ Olami in February 2016, a comprehensive vision governed the National Institutions of the Jewish People [Worldwide] -- the World Zionist Organization, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemet LeYisrael, and Keren Hayesod. Many substantive disagreements existed among the more than a dozen Zionist "Britot" and Irgunim." Yet following the outcome of each once-in-5-years election for a World Zionist Congress, a "wall-to-wall" Zionist coalition emerged. Everyone understood the benefit of being inclusive of every type of Jew and Zionist. All of us affirmed the criteria elaborated within the 1953 [updated in 1968] Jerusalem Program: notably "fostering the unity of the Jewish people"

Jewish Peoplehood is an Essential Component of World Jewry's National Institutions

Success at the World Zionist Congress - Your Votes Mattered!

Leaders' voice

Check out our leaders' writings

Article | The Global Zionism of Conservative Judaism — the World Council and MERCAZ

October 29th, 2024

How should American-Jewish supporters of Israel respond to the judicial overhaul controversy?

September 3rd, 2023

Same Same – But Different

July 31st, 2023

Diaspora Jewry joins Israeli voices seeking judicial compromise

June 15th, 2023

The return of “Who is a Jew?”

June 6th, 2023

The Legal Significance of Israel’s Declaration of Independence

June 1st, 2023

Jewish Peoplehood is an Essential Component of World Jewry's National Institutions

May 28th, 2023

Success at the World Zionist Congress - Your Votes Mattered!

November 11th, 2020

Stay on the Pulse

Receive the latest stories, updates and event notifications.