Why are Canadians subsidizing the World Zionist Congress?

Post Date: May 8, 2026

On 30 April 2026, Palestinian and Jewish Unity, Ontario Palestinian Rights Association, Canadian Foreign Policy Institute, Just Peace Advocates, and other key individuals submitted a complaint to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) outlining a group of charities that ran slates for election in the 2025 World Zionist Congress (WZC).

Based on the information we have compiled, much of which can be found in publicly available documents, a number of charities appear to be in violation of the Income Tax Act, official Canadian policy, and international law.

“I don’t understand how organizations in Canada that run slates in elections of delegates to foreign bodies which allocate billions of dollars are legitimately registered as charities. This must be reviewed by the CRA.”
rabbi david mivasair

Previous Revocations

Notably, two previous CRA revocations appear to demonstrate the problematic and unlawful connection between registered charities and political organizations.

The Canadian Foundation for Masorti Judaism was revoked on 25 October 2025. The Foundation was initially audited for 2016-17,¹ after which a Compliance Agreement was signed between the CRA and Foundation. In the subsequent audit, the CRA found that the Foundation “purposefully acted as a conduit for non-qualified donees in Israel [and] co-mingled its charitable resources with MERCAZ-Canada, a non-qualified donee.” They explicitly noted that the Foundation (along with Mercaz Canada) appeared to be the “Canadian fundraising arm for the Masorti Movement in Israel.”

Interestingly, less than a month later on 15 November 2025 Herut Canada Charitable Foundation was also revoked. While we recognize that there is limited information in the revocation papers due to Herut’s failure to engage in the CRA audit, we would expect the audit considered Herut Canada’s connections with the Herut political party.

World Zionist Congress Elections

2025 was the first time Canadians could vote for slates at the World Zionist Congress (WZC). Of the seats on the WZC, about a third are from Israel, a third from the United States, and the others from the rest of the world, with Canada being assigned 19 seats in 2025. The composition of the Israeli delegation reflects the breakdown of the parties in the Knesset at the time of the WZC election. The World Zionist Congress is political and therefore those running for Canadian representation are partisan, with ties to political parties in Israel. The WZC is essentially the parliament of the World Zionist Organization (WZO).

The WZO is the non-governmental organization that led to the creation of the State of Israel. It was founded at the First Zionist Congress in 1897 at the instigation of Theodor Herzl.² As the author of a 2025 Jerusalem Post article described it:

“[T]he WZO was the start-up, with its end product being the State of Israel.” However, the WZO never actually ‘exited’ the picture; they remain an integral part of the Zionist State. After the WZO transferred its “civic administrative responsibilities” to the “Government of Israel”, the government recognized “the WZO and its affiliated subsidiaries as an integral part of the civic efforts of settling the land, facilitating immigration to it, and providing quality education to its citizens. The WZO became a golden institutional standard of sorts.”³ Together, the WZO, JAFI, Keren Hayesod, and the Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) “comprise the four pillar national institutions of the State of Israel, all of which enjoy a special protected legal status.”⁴ The Global Sanctions Coalition has demanded sanctions on WZO and KKL-JNF.

Charities connected to WZC

Mercaz and Herut represent 2 of the total 9 slates that ran in the most recent WZC election. Therefore, we asked the CRA to investigate other registered charities with similar connections. These included

Mizrachi
ARZA Canada
Canadian Forum for Russian Speaking Jewry (CFRSJ) and B’yachad Canada
Canadian Young Judea

While not the main focus of this complaint, we also noted additional organizations registered as non-profits (but not registered charities). These include: Likud Canada and Mercaz Canada. This was brought to the attention of Corporations Canada.

Mizrachi

Mizrachi describes itself as “the global Religious Zionist movement, spreading Torat Eretz Yisrael [aka greater Israel, well beyond the UN 1947 boundaries] across the world and strengthening the bond between the international Jewish community and the State of Israel.”⁵ The USA Mizrachi website points out Mizrachi’s involvement in the World Zionist Congress dating back to 1914.⁶ There does not seem to be information about the WZC representation on the Canadian Mizrachi website⁷ although there continues to be information on how to donate to charities in Israel including those in settlements.⁸ We have made several submissions to the CRA over the last 5+ years outlining Mizrachi’s support for non-qualified donees, including those that support the Israeli military and illegal settlements.

Donations to other registered charities made by Mizrachi between 2000 and 2024

Donations from other registered charities to Mizrachi between 2000 and 2025

Donations listed on Schedule 2

ARZA Canada

ARZA⁹ is very clear that its mandate is political and focused on growing the Israel national movement and associated institutions. This would appear to be partisan and in support of efforts not related to the purpose of Canadian charities, nor the public good. Notably, ARZA was only registered as a charity in March 2025, just prior to running a slate at the July 2025 WZC.

Donations to other registered charities made by ARZA in 2024

Donations from other registered charities to ARZA between 2022 and 2025

B’yachad Canada and Canadian Forum of Russian-Speaking Jewry (CFRSJ)

B’yachad Canada raises funds for Tzohar, which engages in public policy work for “workable solutions from within the Knesset.”¹⁰ In the US, B’yachad represents the Russian Jewry in the WZO. Therefore, we have asked the CRA to consider if there is a relationship with B’yachad in the US, and/or if CFRSJ or B’yachad Canada are involved in the WZC elections.

Donations to other registered charities made by B’Yachad between 2001 and 2023

Donations from other registered charities to B’Yachad between 2008 and 2025

Donations to other registered charities made by CFRSJ between 2019 and 2025

Donations from other registered charities to CFRSJ between 2019 and 2025

Canadian Young Judea

The website for both Canadian Young Judea and the charity Canadian Young Judea Scholarship Fund website are both focused on youth and camps. However, it appears to have specifically run slates in two categories (under 35-years old and over 35-years old).

Donations from other registered charities to CYJ between 2021 and 2025

Charity Rules

A charity in Canada cannot:

• Endorse or oppose a political party or candidate

• Donate money or resources to a political party

• Tell people how to vote

• Run campaigns that clearly favor one party over another

In the case of these “charities”, they not only endorse a political party but are directly associated with foreign political parties. We asked the CRA to also investigate if these charities have used charitable resources (funds, staff, infrastructure, mailing lists) in their promotion of their slate for the WZC.