World Zionist Organization

The World Zionist Organization (Hebrew: הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit), or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization (ZO; 1897-1960) at the initiative of Theodor Herzl at the First World Zionist Congress, which took place in August 1897 in Basel, Switzerland. When it was founded, the goals of the Zionist movement were stated in a resolution that came of that Congress and came to be known as the “Basel Program.”

The WZO currently consists of the following bodies: The World Zionist Unions, international Zionist federations; and international organizations that define themselves as Zionist, such as WIZO, Hadassah, B'nai B'rith, Maccabi, the International Sephardic Federation, the three streams of world Judaism (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform), delegation from the CIS – Commonwealth of Independent States (some states of the former Soviet Union), the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS), and more.

The Jewish Agency is a parallel organisation, with goals, attributes and leadership closely intertwined with those of the Zionist Organization during the years before the establishment of the State of Israel, and to varying degrees after that. Significant changes to the statutes of both organisations occurred in 1952, 1970 and 1979.