A security committee to prepare for the defense of the projected Jewish state is in the process of being formed, David Remez, chairman of the Jewish National Council, told a plenary session of the Council which opened here today.
Remez announced that the committee would consist of representatives of the council and the Jewish Agency and that the right-wing “Citizen’s Bloc,” led by Tel ##viv Mayor Israel Rokach, would receive representation on the body.
It was reliably learned that David Ben Gurion and members of the “Citizens ?loc” reached an agreement last night for including the conservative party representatives on the security committee. The agreement would provide for an eleven-man commission composed of four Jewish Agency representatives, four from the Council and ?hree from the Bloc. It was also learned that this agreement is a forerunner of a future compromise, on the composition of a planning committee charged with drafting a constitution, a legal code and other matters.
A fund-raising drive for $2,000,000 to support the work of the security committee was also announced at the conference. The campaign will get under way in two weeks and will start with a self-imposed “half-hour house curfew” during which the Jews will remain at home and be visited by fund-raisers.
Following a request from Remez, the delegates granted the Council’s executive authority to hold elections for the Jewish National Assembly (Assefath Hanivcharim) as soon as possible. It is generally believed in political circles that the elections will take place in January. The Council chairman appealed to all groups in the community to join in a united effort necessary to set up the new state. He addressed himself particularly to the Agudas Israel, which he asked “not to stand to one side.”
Negotiations are being conducted with the Revisionists, the Sephardic community and some right-wing groups which in the past have boycotted elections to the National Assembly to participate in the forthcoming balloting. There is good reason to believe that as a result of these efforts to effect a compromise there will be no organized parties or groups boycotting the January voting.
Remez hailed the Russian-American agreement on implementation of partition and praised the role of Jewish spokesmen at Lake Success. Resolutions of thanks to the U.S.S.R. and the Jewish Agency spokesmen were adopted. When the news of the U.S.-Soviet accord reached Palestine the general reaction was one of increased hope for a speedy establishment of a Jewish state.
Lashing out at the dissidents, Remez appealed for an end to dissension, extortion and murders, which, he said, “are a direct assault on our independence.” He urged the Arabs not to listen to persons who would incite them against the Jews, adding that the Jewish nation wants only peace with the Arabs.
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.
