Leaders of the British General Zionist party today criticized the Zionist Organization of America for “collecting signatures” to a petition calling for unity between the General Zionists and the Progressive Party in Israel. The British leaders were referring to a joint petition signed by the General Zionist parties of 16 countries.
In a statement, they declared that they believe that “unity inside General Zionism can be preserved if no meddling and pernicious interference takes place with party politics in both sections of the Israel General Zionists.” They claimed that “the General Zionist bodies throughout the world who have become signatories to the Z.O.A. round-robin are being misled by the onesided and not always truthful presentation of news by the Z.O.A.”
A special meeting of the British Mapai Party today rejected the idea of merging all Zionist parties in each country outside Israel into a single, overall Zionist body. The executive explained that it felt that such a system would be difficult to organize here.
The executive agreed to the need for unified control of the national funds, under the supervision of the Jewish Agency. It stressed the need for retention of the system of selling shekels, but suggested that the present system for voting for World Zionist Congress delegates be modified.
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.
