Israel’s President Herzog Launches Global Survey To Map Jewish Concerns Worldwide
Herzog announced a global survey to create the ‘Voice of the People’ Jewish Council, a new forum for international Jewish dialogue and leadership. The council will address challenges like antisemitism and Israel-Diaspora relations
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog announced the launch of a global survey as the first step in creating the “Voice of the People” (Kol Ha’am) Jewish Council, a new initiative to address the challenges facing Jewish communities worldwide and build a pioneering forum for international Jewish dialogue and leadership. The survey, designed to gather input from Jewish communities across the globe, will be used to form a new advisory council to be renewed every two years.
Focusing on critical issues facing Jews everywhere and fostering innovative projects, the Voice of the People initiative, led by CEO Shirel Dagan-Levy, aims to become an incubator for practical solutions to pressing issues, such as the rise in antisemitism, security concerns, Israel-Diaspora relations, and economic discrimination and is a collaborative effort between the President’s Office, the World Zionist Organization, and the Jewish Agency, with support from major philanthropic foundations.
We are currently engaged in safeguarding the State of Israel and reinforcing the strength of the Jewish people amid a challenging war and rising antisemitism. The survey we are launching today will shape the council and, therefore, shape the discussions impacting the future of the Jewish people. I encourage everyone to participate and contribute to help build our collective future.
“We are currently engaged in safeguarding the State of Israel and reinforcing the strength of the Jewish people amid a challenging war and rising antisemitism,” said President Herzog. “The survey we are launching today will shape the council and, therefore, shape the discussions impacting the future of the Jewish people. I encourage everyone to participate and contribute to help build our collective future.” The survey features ten predefined topics alongside an open-ended question to allow for additional input, aiming to gather relevant insights and identify potential leaders for the initiative.
The initiative plans to establish a council of 150 leaders from Jewish communities worldwide, with 50 representatives from Israel, 50 from the USA and Canada, and 50 from other countries. The council will meet monthly online and culminate in a conference in Israel in March 2025. The global survey, which will guide the council’s priorities, is open for the next 45 days. Survey respondents will help select the topics for discussion, and 20 participants will be chosen to engage directly with President Herzog in a virtual event on September 15, 2024.
The 150 selected Council members will work in groups, supported by senior mentors, to develop projects that address an issue recorded on the survey. Research, data, and strategic partners will back these efforts. The program will also offer an internship program to foster future Jewish diaspora leaders.
“The fact is that between our Jewish communities, and between them and the State of Israel, we are growing at times more distant from one another. The gaps between us are growing wider. On some of the most essential questions, we are unable to agree. But, more concerning, often, we are unable even to discuss. That critical web of connectedness—the sense of shared purpose and destiny that has sustained our people for millennia—seems to be loosening. I am convinced that there is no greater existential threat to our people than the one that comes from within.” President Herzog said.
Within the context of the polarization of the Jewish people worldwide, President Herzog envisions that the Voice of the People will be like a “Beit Midrash,” sharing insights and cooperating for solutions between Jews in Israel and in the Diaspora.
Imagine in twenty years looking back and seeing how each cohort of our council has shaped the Jewish people’s trajectory. This is our chance to create a legacy that will guide and inspire future generations.
Dagan-Levy anticipates long-term and lasting effects due to the initiative. “Imagine in twenty years looking back and seeing how each cohort of our council has shaped the Jewish people’s trajectory,” said Dagan-Levy. “This is our chance to create a legacy that will guide and inspire future generations.”
The initiative expects to have thousands of applicants, and Dagan-Levy shared that they already had hundreds of surveys answered within the first hours the survey was online. “It’s really important to us that the 150 people are very much connected to the community because 150 people is a very, very small number. It has to be in touch with what’s going on on the ground. So basically, each and every idea will go back to what we call a sandbox to check with the communities, to get feedback, and to make the necessary tweaks and changes for this to work. So it’s basically a very big network of people who want to work together to make a change,” said the CEO.
The topics that the council will work on will come from the answers provided by people on the survey to build an agenda with leaders from the bottom up, according to Dagan-Levy. “All the Jewish people tell us what they think today are the ten topics we need to tackle, and then the council will sit together and think together about how we do it. We’ll start with research to understand what’s working today and then come up with an entrepreneurial state of mind—if there’s a problem, how can we find a new solution to actually make an effect going forward?” she concluded.
