Rabbi Jonathan Guttentag was elected chairman of the Zionist Federation UK by its new board on Sunday.
The former rabbi of Whitefield Hebrew Congregation in Manchester helped to establish the UK branch of Eretz Hakodesh, a new Zionist movement set up in recent years to attract Charedi supporters.
For six years, he has served as the international liaision for the Coalition for Jewish Values, a conservative-leaning Orthodox group in the USA.
Commenting on his election, Rabbi Guttentag said he was “honoured by the confidence my fellow directors have placed in me.
"Our first meeting demonstrated the considerable experience and commitment around the Board table, together with a shared determination to strengthen the Federation.
"As chairman, I want to ensure that every constituent organisation and every director has the opportunity to contribute.
"At a challenging time for Israel and Jewish communities worldwide, we want the Federation to be an effective voice, engaging with government, Parliament and the wider public."
The recently elected board has four directors from Eretz Hakodesh, four from Shas Olami UK, four from Likud UK and one each from the left-wing Meretz, Progressive Arzenu and the right-wing Herut.
Rabbi Guttentag is a great-grandson of Dr Nathan Birnbaum, who coined the term Zionism in 1890 and became an influential figure, parting company with the Zionist movement.
In last year’s elections to the World Zionist Organisation’s Congress in Jerusalem, in which 10,000 UK Jews voted to choose their delegates, Eretz Hakodesh emerged with five seats, Our Israel – representing Reform, Liberal and Masorti – five, and Shas Olami, Mizrachi and the Jewish Labour Movement- Meretz with three apiece.
Mizrachi, the veteran movement representing modern Orthodox Zionism, is not part of the ZF.
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