With the delegates to the Zionist Congress making ready to disperse to the four quarters of the globe, the outcome of the Comgress was interpreted in a variety of ways by leaders of the different parties and groups in brief statements issued to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency tonight.
Vladimir Jabotinsky, Revisionist chieftain, who at one point of the Congress led his followers in a dramatic walkout of protest, said “the Congress concluded with resolutions which mean a new policy and with an Executive which will continue the old policy which is just like all Zionist Congresses.”
Dr. Stephen S. Wise, whose bitter indictment of British policy in Palestine and sharp criticism of the retiring Zionist leader, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, was one of the highlights of the Congress, characterized the gathering as “one of forward-looking hope. The change in leadership proves to the doubting that the Zionist movement is greater than any man. The Jewish National Home will yet be our own.”
END BETTER THAN BEGINNING
Dr. Leo Motzkin, who as chairman of the Congress’ presidium, presided over most of the sessions of the Congress, said meaningfully that “the end of the Congress is better than its beginning.” Rabbi Meyer Berlin, leader of the Mizrachi, Orthodox Zionists, found that the Congress “began with despair and concluded with hope. The new Executive means not only new people but also a new path.”
Isaac Naiditch, French leader, asserted that Congress “had killed a man but did not kill the system” while M. Haskel of South Africa said “it now remains for Dr. Weizmann to respect the Congress’ decision and not to participate in any action which might prejudice the work of the new Executive.”
Prof. Selig Brodetsky, a member of the new Executive and a confidant of Dr. Weizmann, pointed out that the Congress was “signalized by the departure of Dr. Weizmann from leadership but this does not mean that the Congress rejected the fundamentals of the policy which Dr. Weizmann brilliantly led for so many years.
“The statement of policy by the new Executive as well as the compositon of this Executive makes this clear. Jewry has sacrificed its leader, I believe, temporarily in order to demonstrate the grave apprehension created by the events of the last two years. I hope Jewry, and particularly the Zionist movement, will now be in a position of determination to work together for the realization of our aims.
SPIRIT NOT BROKEN
“The Congress showed that our spirit as a nation is not broken. On the contrary, we stand united in the firm will to achieve in Palestine Herzl’s dream and the internationally recognized aim of a Jewish National Home.”
Emanuel Neumann, one of the two Americans on the new Executive, as serted that “it was a difficult Congress, coming after a series of political reverses. The overwhelming majority deeply appreciated Dr. Weizmann’s unquestioned devotion and contributions to the cause, but the Congress clearly expressed a desire for a change in the political and economic spheres. The Zionist Organization emerged from the Congress unbroken and unshaken in its determination to go forward towards its unchanging goal.”
The other American member of the Executive, Berl Locker, said he considered the results of the Congress under the circumstances created, satisfactory. “It is certainly the firm decision of all members of the new Executive, without giving up their principles, to work together loyally and sincerely along a common program under the slogan of upbuilding work under any circumstances,” Mr. Locker said.
Jacob Fishman, managing editor of the Jewish Morning Journal, asserted that “Weizmann was ostensibly the scapegoat but in reality he emerged bigger than before. The vote of the majority of the American delegation was solemnly dictated by a policy of revenge against Weizmann.”
Mrs. Archibald Silverman, an alternate member of the Actions Committee, said “a change of leadership was absolutely necessary at this particular juncture in Zionist affairs. I was not against Dr. Weizmann, but I voted against him as a protest against the British government.”
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.
