The World Zionist Organization was requested today by Premier David Ben Gurion to identify itself “unreservedly” with the Jewish state and to mobilize the entire Jewish people on the side of the Jewish state.
Addressing the 400 delegates attending the conference of the Mapai, Israel’s Labor Party, the Premier said that it is the duty of the world Zionist movement to bring home to Jews the world over the full significance of the rebirth of the Jewish state. The forthcoming World Zionist Congress, he said, will be a test for the Zionist movement and its work for “ingathering the exiles” and for the consolidation of Israel.
Emphasizing that he cannot predict the fate of the Jewish communities abroad and how long the work of “ingathering the exiles” will continue under the present pace and conditions, Mr. Ben Gurion declared that it will be decisive for the Jewish state whether its population will be 1,000,000 or 2,000,000. He sharply criticized the General Zionist Party and the Mapam charging them with failing to make any contribution “to implement Israel’s historic mission.”
Berl Locker, chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive, told the conference that Israel must rid itself of reliance on philanthropic aid which is insufficient to speed the immigration rate of whole Jewish communities like those from Rumania and Iraq. The Zionist movement, he stated, must train the Jewish nation for methodical tax paying as a sense of responsibility. Zionists abroad must assume financial burdens as Israeli citizens do, and the World Zionist Organization must be reorganized bor this purpose, he added.
Mr. Locker advocated the recognition of the World Zionist Organization by Israel as a “fully accredited representative of world Jewry in Israel.” He urged that the W.Z.O,. be granted in Israel a privileged status hitherto not extended to any other body. He rejected the suggestion that Israelis should now double their Shekel system, and argued that the main Zionist work and responsibilities should fall on the Israelis.
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.
