Louis A. Pincus Sees Acceptance of Jewish Agency Reorganization Program

Louis A. Pincus, chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency, said here today that he had been gratified by the understanding shown by Jewish organizations in this country and their readiness to enter into partnership with the World Zionist Organization in a revamped Jewish Agency in which the organizations responsible for raising funds for Israel purposes would be represented on an equal basis with the WZO. He said that a broad basis of agreement had been reached in this country and abroad on participation and reported that the reorganization plan would be submitted to the Zionist Actions Committee, ruling body of the WZO between Congresses, next June.

Mr. Pincus expressed confidence the plan would receive a substantial majority in the Actions Committee after which, he said, actual negotiations on formation of a 300-member Jewish Agency Assembly could be begun. The new organization could become operative, he said, within six months. The World Zionist Organization would elect half the members of the Assembly and the fund-raising organizations the other half. The Assembly would be responsible for adoption of the Jewish Agency budget and for the election of the Executive. The World Zionist Organization would elect its own Executive and would continue its specifically Zionist tasks, but the two Executives would have the same chairman.

The Jewish Agency official stressed that the reorganization plan would give to the Jewish leadership responsible for fund-raising for Israeli purposes “ground level” participation in the decision-making processes and thus a voice in the expenditure of the funds which they had helped to raise.

The Labor Zionists, the General Zionist Confederation (Neumann group) and the Mizrachi were described as supporting the reorganization program. The World Confederation of General Zionists (Goldstein-Halprin group) supported the principle of reorganization but differed on the form it was to take. The Mapam Party was described as split on the question and the Herut Party was opposed to reorganization.

The Goldstein-Halprin group defined its stand on the proposals at a meeting of its executive body in London last weekend. It expressed itself in favor of reorganization and of the election of representatives of the bodies raising funds for Israel on a basis of parity with the World Zionist Organization but it opposed the creation of “two separate parallel organizations” and urged a revision of the plan to provide for one Executive which would deal with the work of the Jewish Agency as well as of the World Zionist Organization. It proposed that the Actions Committee establish a special committee composed one-half of WZO representatives and half of representatives of the fund-raising organizations to formulate a mutually acceptable plan.