Voting opens in election for WZC

(JTA) — Voting March 10 in an election that gives American Jews a rare chance to directly shape Israel’s future.

The U.S. election for seats in the 39th World Zionist Congress will help determine the balance of power in the legislative authority of a Zionist organization founded by Theodore Herzl 128 years ago.

Influence over $5 billion in funding for Jewish causes is at stake, as is authority over quasi-governmental institutions such as the Jewish Agency, which plays a central role in immigration to Israel, and the Jewish National Fund, which owns 13 percent of Israeli land.

Any Jewish adult...