Allegations that those who how head the United Jewish Appeal in the U.S. are anti-Zionists were denied here at the conclusion of the general debate of the Zionist Actions Committee by Baruch Zuckerman, president of the labor Zionist Organization of America.
"The fact is," the American Labor Zionist leader said, "that they (the U.J.A. leaders) often abandon their businesses and devote all of their time to the collection of funds for Israel. This shows they are good and faithful Zionists," he added.
The debate became especially impassioned when the issue of the resignations of Dr. Abba Hillel Silver and Dr. Emanuel Neumann from the executive of the Jewish Agency was taken up for discussion. Berl Locker, chairman of the Agency executive in Jerusalem, Dr. Nahum Goldmann, acting chairman of the American section of the Agency executive, and Dr. Israel Goldstein, Agency treasurer, delivered long speeches on the subject.
Locker warned against "terrorization of the majority by a minority–even by a minority consisting of respected members of the Jewish Agency who are contributing such to the Zionist movement." He urged maintaining of the democratic spirit of the Zionist movement.
AGENCY’S DECISION ON U.J.A. SAVED DRIVE THIS YEAR, GOLDMANN SAYS
Dr. Goldmann stated that the decision of the majority of the Agency executive with regard to the U.J.A. saved the Appeal’s campaign in 1949.The main issue, he said, was the refusal by Drs. Silver and Neumann and American Zionist bodies to accept the majority decision of the Agency executive. Such a policy, he added, if allowed to prevail, would destroy the voluntary democratic system prevailing in the Zionist movement.
"The imposition of the will of individual personalities upon the Zionist movement is not admissible," Dr. Goldmann declared. "I fought it in the past and will fight it in the future. Nobody denies the great merits of Dr. Silver but we should not forget also other great Zionist leaders in America, such as the late Dr. Stephens, Wise.
"The decision of the Jewish Agency executive with regard to the U.J.A. established the authority of the executive in America and saved the Zionist movement from sliding into a centralized direction. The full autonomy of local Zionist bodies with a right to defy the central authority would have broken the Zionist organization," Goldmann concluded.
Dr. Goldstein said: "Speaking for the General Zionists, I can say that if Drs. Silver and Neumann would wire that they withdraw their resignations tomorrow and that they are returning to the Jewish Agency executive, there would be a wide-spread satisfaction.
"A good deal has been said here that on account of financial considerations the Zionists sacrificed to the non-Zionists. Others argued here that the Zionists has a victory because the position of the Jewish Agency had been maintained. My firm conviction is that American Zionists can regain their leadership in the field of fund-raising–if they lost it–as soon as they are prepared to throw themselves into fund-raising with the same zeal and passion of self-sacrifice with which they threw themselves into the political struggle." Dr. Goldstein declared. A reception honoring members of the Actions Committee was given today by the Israeli Knesset. Various subcommittees of the Committee began work today on their respective assignments, including the subcommittee preparing resolutions on relations to be established between the Agency and the Israeli 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.
