Executive, members of the Zionist General Council who were not elected as delegates to Congress, Chairs of the Zionist Federations, judicial office holders - the President of the Zionist Supreme Court, the Attorney, the Comptroller and representatives of the Aliyah Movement. Observers with no speaking or voting rights can be invited by the Zionist Executive or the Congress Presidium. Former participants Green Zionist Alliance The course of the Congress The Zionist Congress is conducted by the Congress Presidium. Congress deliberations are divided into five stages: Opening of the Congress, including a speech by the Chairman of the Executive, and other speeches determined in the agenda, election of the Congress Presidium, the report of the President of the Zionist Supreme Court on the election results, reports of the members of the Zionist Executive in supplement to the printed report, election of the Congress committees. Election of the new Executive, according to the proposal of the Congress Standing Committee. Meetings of the committees. Reports of the committees and voting on the draft resolutions presented by them. The report of the Standing Committee and voting on its proposals for members of the Zionist General Council, the Comptroller and the Legal Institutions. Congress closing ceremony. History The Zionist Congress, later to become the World Zionist Congress, was held at intervals of 1 year (1897–1901), then 2 years (1903–1939) until the outbreak of the Second World War, with an eight-year break (1913–1921) due to the First World War. Important moments The First Zionist Congress, held in 1897 in Basel, Switzerland, had Theodor Herzl acting as chairperson. The Congress was attended by some 200 participants who formulated the Zionist platform, known as the "Basel programme", and established the Zionist Organization (ZO). In contrast with the older Hibbat Zion movement, the ZO took a clear stance in favour of political Zionism, stating in its programme that "Zionism seeks for the Jewish people a publicly recognized legally secured homeland in Palestine." Herzl wrote in his diary, "Were I to sum up the Basel Congress in a word - which I shall guard against pronouncing publicly - it would be this: At Basel I founded the Jewish State." The Twenty-third Zionist Congress, held in 1951 in Jerusalem, was the first to be held after the establishment of the State of Israel, and the first held in Jerusalem, which would become the norm. It was opened at the graveside of