The moment for decision on the extension of the Jewish Agency, providing for the admission of the non-Zionists into partnership with the Zionists in the upbuilding of Palestine, the major question on the agenda of the Zionist legislative body in session here, is rapidly approaching as the Congress, following European parliamentary procedure, is well advanced in the general debate. Although the ratification of Dr. Weizmann’s plans for the future, principally the extension of the Agency, is a foregone conclusion, spokesmen for the Right and Left wings of the Congress, took the opportunity to lash the leadership of the Zionist the Mizrachi, organization of religious Zionists, demanded the recognition of religion as a greater force and constructive element in the Zionist policy in Palestine and charged the leadership with having “designs” on the religious school system maintained by his organization. Dr. Chaim Arlosoroff of the Zionist Labor party, Hitachduth, criticized the Executive for its alleged failure to bring about the financial consolidation in the Zionist colonization projects which it promised two years ago when it was elected at the last Congress. S. Kaplansky of Jerusalem, another Labor spokesman, announced the intention of the labor groups to continue their fight for the recognition of organized Jewish labor in the Council of the Jewish Agency as it has done in the Zionist Congress. Abraham Goldberg, representing the Zionist Organization of America, demanded that greater regard be paid to the views of American Zionists and that consideration be given in Palestine projects not only to agriculture and labor organizations but also to the middle classes and the development of commerce and industry. American Zionists do not mind that social experiments be carried on in one or two settlements, but they object to transforming the entire Jewish colonization in Palestine into a social experiment, he said. American Jewry, numbering over four million and rendering the service it does to the leading Jewish causes, deserves that its views be respected, he exclaimed.
EXPECT GENERAL DEBATE TO LAST 2 DAYS
The general debate is expected to last all day Tuesday and Wednesday when the vote on the Jewish Agency will be taken. Much interest centers in the expected attacks against the extension plan on the part of Vladimir Jabotinsky, leader of the Zionist Revisionists, and Deputy Isaac Gruenbaum, the die-hard opponents of the plan.
Three Americans, including Jacob Fishman, and Abraham Goldberg of New York, and Elihu D. Stone of Boston, were elected to the Committee on Committees, consisting of 32 members. Three alternates were also chosen. Engineer Soskin was chosen vice-president of the Congress representing the Zionist Revisionists.
The sessions which were held on Monday at the Kaufleutenhaus were transferred Tuesday to the Zurich Opera House. The first meeting place was found to be too small for the large assembly of 322 delegates and many visitors.
RABBI BERLIN SAYS BOTH WINGS RIPER FOR LEADERSHIP THAN CENTER
Rabbi Meyer Berlin in an impassioned address, which lasted an hour, on behalf of the Mizrachi asserted that both wings are riper for leadership than the Center. While Rabbi Berlin voiced a warning that the Mizrachi will, perhaps, be obliged to go over the head of the Executive, if religious education in Palestine is hampered or
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neglected, and Dr. Arlosoroff deplored the Executive’s failure at negotiating loans and the inadequate attention given to the plight of Russian Zionists, both, nevertheless, spoke less bitterly than the pre-Congress hostility indicated.
Discussing the budget, Rabbi Berlin said that it is remarkable that the representatives of all parties in Palestine consulted in the drafting of the budget wanted one thing and the Executive another. The Executive was surprised to find the Mizrachi joined with labor in demanding more colonization, and the labor groups supporting the Mizrachi in demanding more religious education. Rabbi Berlin deplored the fact that Dr. Weizmann had not dwelt more strongly on the Wailing Wall conflict. “While we are here deliberating on the upbuilding of Palestine, the Palestine government is attempting to deprive us of the last remnant of the Temple.” Rabbi Berlin compared his grief over the neglect of religious education to the Wailing Wall. The Mizrachi will perhaps be obliged to break organization discipline if religious teaching is uprooted, he said.
“We agree to the extended Jewish Agency because it is here and we are believers and sons of believers, but the constitution alone is not an adequate safeguard for the preservation of Zionism. We must not regard our partners as competitors,” he said, hinting at rivalry and jealousy between the Zionist fund raising agencies. “Zionism must make religion its basis. One who is not a Mizrachist cannot understand the Mizrachi, just as the non-Zionist cannot understand the Zionist. We now say you cannot be a Jew without Palestine. The time is approaching
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when we will say you cannot be a Zionist without religion,” Rabbi Berlin declared.
DR. ARLOSOROFF ATTACKS EXECUTIVE
In his address Dr, Arlosoroff said he is proud that the workers at this Congress are stronger than ever, which is not accidental but a clear tendency in post-war Zionism. The Congress election clearly showed that the youth is with labor which is becoming the repository of the Zionist future. The growing confidence in labor imposes on it a growing responsibility, he said. “The experiment begun at Basle with a wingless Executive was a mistake in our opinion. The Executive has done important work which we are not inclined to under-estimate, especially in the reduction of debts and improving financial credit, but otherwise it was unsuccessful since it did not consolidate agriculture and did not restore confidence. The consolidation was impossible because it was based on an anti-labor crusade. The homogeneous Executive did not find new sources of money but accepted new obligations amounting to £350,000. The Zionist income has decreased under the new Executive which now faces a crisis,” he declared.
The labor delegates charged the Zionist Executive with inaction regarding the persecution of the Zionists in Russia. “The time has come to raise the question above formal resolutions to political action. It is very difficult,” he said, “to criticize Dr. Weizmann, knowing that his hand did not control the policies owing to his recent illness of many months. We recognize the success he achieved in public works, health and education. This shows how much more is possible if persistence is employed.”
Regarding the extension of the Jewish Agency, Dr. Arlosoroff said, “It is not a mere constitution scheme but a social process in Jewry to which new forces, unforeseen by the authors of the Jewish Agency plan, will be drawn.”‘
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
