Jerusalem lessees organizing to influence WZC election
Source: JPost.com – Homepage
A group of US citizens who are lessees of apartments in the Nayot and Talbiya neighborhoods of Jerusalem are organizing to influence the makeup of the Keren Kayemet LeIsrael executive board following the upcoming World Zionist Congress election, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
The group’s goal is for KKL to extend its primary lease of land that includes approximately 1,000 apartments for another century or more. The 99-year lease is set to expire between 2051-2052, but the original lease agreement between KKL and the Greek-Orthodox Church says that KKL has the right to extend the lease.
The group consists of sub-lessees of the apartments from KKL. The church beginning in 2012 sold the land in question, in the Nayot and Talbiya neighborhoods of south Jerusalem, to private investors at sub-market prices.
According to the lease agreement, the current owner of the lands, investor Gary Barnett, is expected to receive full rights for the land when the KKL lease expires. Barnett has attempted in recent years to cut a deal with the sub-lessees, whereby they will receive full ownership of their apartments, in exchange for their agreement to a large “Pinui-Binui” (“tear down and rebuild”) project and other conditions.
Members of the group of sub-lessees, however, have argued that their lease’s long-term character already grants them certain ownership rights. Among other arguments, they pointed out that a broad reform in the early 2000s granted many lessees in similar cases ownership of their apartments, at zero cost and without conditions.
Members of Knesset asked for solution
The group has lobbied members of Knesset to come up with a solution in legislation. A recent bill proposal by National Unity MK Michael Biton and supported by approximately 40 MKs from both the coalition and opposition, coined the “Fair Leasing Law,” would grant the sub-lessees the right to extend the lease for an additional period, and first rights to purchase the apartment in case of a future sale, at the cost of 5.5% of the value of the land,
However, the group decided to simultaneously pursue another track – to influence the directorship of KKL, so that KKL will cut a deal with Barnett and extend the primary lease agreement for another century or more. This would give the sub-lessees semi-ownership rights over their apartments for the foreseeable future.
The group intends to create a voter bloc for the upcoming election to the WZC, which will be held between March 10 and May 4. Many of the sub-lessees are US citizens and eligible to vote in the WZC election.
The group will likely number over 1,000 voters, which is a significant amount and are enough to swing a number of delegates. The group will cast its vote to the party that is most committed to promoting their cause. In particular, the group’s demand is that the party include the issue of KKL expanding the lease agreement in coalition negotiations.
This would likely entail the party demanding a significant presence on the KKL executive board, which is appointed by the WZC based on coalition agreements.
The group will hold a ZOOM conference in early February in order to launch its operation.
US representatives
The American Zionist Movement (AZM) announced last week The March vote for the 152 US representatives in the congress, who make up about a third of the body, will have 2,900 candidates from 22 slates. The number of candidates increased by 60% from the 2020 election, and the 22 slates represent a 69% increase from the previous election’s 13 slates.
The slates represent a variety of different ideological, political, cultural, and religious American Zionist beliefs and movements. The candidates reportedly hail from 43 US states and territories.
The elected American delegates, who will represent almost one-third of the body, will decide at the 39th WZC – to be held in Jerusalem in October – the allocation of over $1 billion in funding and the leadership and priorities of key global Zionist institutions, including the World Zionist Organization, the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, The Jewish Agency for Israel, and United Israel Appeal.
To vote, one must be Jewish, 18 years or older by June 30, a US citizen or legal resident with a primary residence in that country, ascribe to the Zionist movement platform, and not have voted in a recent Knesset election. Voters will also need to pay a $5 registration and voting fee to cover operating costs.
Michael Starr contributed to this report.
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