World Likud
Faction of the Likud party in the World Zionist Organization, which has held the top posts in the WZO and KKL-JNF
| World Likud
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|---|---|
| Logo | 
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| Type | Faction (party list) in the World Zionist Organization |
| Key people | Danny Danon (chair); Yaakov Hagoel (WZO chair) |
World Likud is the faction of the Israeli Likud party in the World Zionist Organization (WZO). It stands as a list in elections to the World Zionist Congress.[1] Its chair in 2025 was Danny Danon, the ambassador of 'Israel' to the United Nations.[2]
As the Likud's faction inside the WZO, World Likud is part of the Zionist movement's own institutions. After the 2020 Zionist Congress elections, World Likud held the chairs of both the WZO and KKL-JNF for full five-year terms.[3] The Likud leads the centre-right bloc in the congress, and under the 2025 power-sharing agreement that bloc was given control of the WZO's Settlement Division (see below).[4]
39th World Zionist Congress (2025)
The 39th World Zionist Congress met in Jerusalem in October 2025. According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, it was expected to decide the allocation of "more than $1 billion annually toward Zionist institutions".[2] Senior delegates told the agency that Benjamin Netanyahu's absence from the congress reflected "friction inside World Likud" and his long-running dispute with its chair, Danny Danon, over internal appointments.[2]
eJewishPhilanthropy reported that the division in the Likud was between two camps: one represented by WZO chair Yaakov Hagoel, and one by Culture Minister Miki Zohar, "a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu". Zohar's camp appeared to have won out and negotiated the first coalition deal with the centre-left bloc.[4] Shortly afterwards that deal collapsed when the Likud named Netanyahu's son, Yair Netanyahu, to a top WZO position. The collapse forced the congress to be extended by two weeks.[4][2]
The final agreement, approved in November 2025, split the leadership of the WZO and KKL-JNF between the two blocs, with each bloc chairing each body for half of the five-year term. Yaakov Hagoel of World Likud was to serve the first half-term as chair of the WZO. Yair Netanyahu was not put forward by the Likud for any position.[3]
Settlement Division
The WZO says the main purpose of its Settlement Division is "to strengthen the periphery of the State of Israel by establishing rural settlements".[5] eJewishPhilanthropy reported that the 2025 agreement gave the centre-right faction control of the division, "through which it can support West Bank settlements".[4]
See also
- Likud
- Likud UK
- Likud-Herut UK Ltd
- World Zionist Organization
- Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael - Jewish National Fund
- Mizrachi
Notes
- ↑ World Zionist Organization, Summary of election results and agreements for the 39th Congress, as submitted to the Congress Court on 9 October 2025 (in Hebrew), accessed 23 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Deborah Danan and Asaf Elia-Shalev, Proposal to elevate Netanyahu's son shatters fragile concord at World Zionist Congress, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 30 October 2025, accessed 23 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 eJewishPhilanthropy, World Zionist Congress approves left-right power split; no roles offered to Israeli PM's son, 24 November 2025, accessed 23 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Judah Ari Gross, Center-left and center-right blocs agree to split top WZO, KKL-JNF positions in power-sharing deal, eJewishPhilanthropy, 29 October 2025, accessed 23 October 2026.
- ↑ World Zionist Organization, The Settlement Division, accessed 23 October 2026.