Eri Jabotinsky, son of the late Zionist-Revisionist leader, who arrived here Monday from Palestine, declared today at a press conference at the Hotel Navarre that before he left the Holy Land in December leaders of the Union of Zionist Revisionists and of the Mapay (labor Zionist party) reached an agreement, in their personal capacities, looking toward creation of a united front.
“The unanimous reaction of all the Zionists to the Patria affair made it apparent that the cleft which has existed between the two chief currents of Zionist thought-the Revisionist and the Labor-had been bridged,” Jabotinsky said. “The matters got so far that negotiations started for a united Jewish front for the duration of the war. The negotiations ended just before my departure from Palestine in December on a draft of an agreement between the Union of Zionist Revisionists and the Mapay signed by Mr. Berl Katznelson, Mr. Eliahu Golomb, Dr. Benjamin Lubotzky and myself, all the signatories acting in their personal capacity.
“The four signatories undertook to try and persuade their respective parties to adopt it; the parties, in their turn, would try to get this agreement accepted by the New and Old Zionist Organizations respectively. The proposal was to be held secret for one month to allow both sides to prepare the ground. More than twice the allotted time having elapsed, I feel myself at liberty to publish at least the essence of that proposal.
“After a preamble stating that the Mapay and the Revisionist Party find it necessary in the present crisis to formulate a common plan of work for the duration of the war, the agreement formulates the Jewish aims, which are: The establishment of a Jewish army to fight as an ally of Great Britain; after the war the immediate transfer to Palestine of all the Jewish masses desiring to immigrate; the work of colonization shall be pursued according to a plan taking into consideration the above mentioned aims and the strategical necessities; the national funds shall be developed with a view to the realization of the above aims.
“Then comes a chapter on Organizational problems: The Zionist Organization will adopt the above program as being the interpretation of the Basel Program and will abolish the price of the shekel. The Revisionist Party will enter the Zionist Organization and the New Zionist Organization will be suppressed. An extraordinary congress will be called in America and will nominated a United Jewish Representation which will be empowered to present the above stated Jewish demands to the Peace Conference.
“A third chapter deals with Palestinian matters, such as the creation of a United Labor Council representing all the trade unions which will decide on all matters of labor.”
Jabotinsky declared that “the main force opposing the creation of a Jewish army is, of course, not so much the British Government as the Palestinian administration, which has the feeling that it is necessary to propitiate the Arabs, who are notoriously pro-Nazi. That administration is consistently pursuing an anti-Zionist policy, prohibiting the sale of land to Jews, expelling Jewish immigrants and sabotaging the establishment of a Jewish Army.”
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.
