The election to choose Britain’s delegates to the 39th World Zionist Organisation in Jerusalem in autumn has been postponed from the week after next until July as investigations continue into alleged irregularities in registering voters.
A notice sent by the Zionist Federation to those who had voted to register explained, “We are currently still in the process of verifying voters. Due to an ongoing investigation into alleged fraudulent activity during the voter registration process, the area election company (AEC) has taken the difficult decision to postpone the actual voting period for the UK election to July 6-10.”
The online poll had been scheduled to run from June 8 to 12, with voters having a choice of nine slates.
To register, voters had to pay £1, offer proof of identity and agree to the Jerusalem Programme, the statement of the WZO’s principles.
A member of the AEC said that the postponement was still subject to a hearing at the Zionist court in Jerusalem, which adjudicates disputes within the WZO’s constituent organisations.
The ZF told voters that “no data breach has taken place and all voters should remain assured that their data is secure”.
Britain has just 19 out of 525 seats at the congress, which is largely composed of Israeli and American delegates.
Owing to its stake in the Jewish Agency and the Jewish National Fund, WZO representatives help to determine £750 million in annual spending on Zionist activities in Israel and the diaspora.
The ZF has given no further detail about the alleged irregularities.
The JC understands that more than 12,000 have signed up for the poll –compared to only a few hundred who are believed to have taken part the last time there was an actual vote in this country in 2006.
The usual practice has been for the various Zionist movements to agree on the allocation of UK seats based on their memberships.
The registration process was earlier extended by a week to enable Jews from Gibraltar to sign up after a dispute over whether they were eligible to take part following an intervention from the Zionist Court in Jerusalem.
