Close cooperation between the World Jewish Congress and the World Zionist Organization on matters concerning diaspora Jewry was reaffirmed at a closed meeting of the WJC’s 40-member Governing Council here last night, attended by WJC president Dr. Nahum Goldmann and Louis A. Pincus, president of the WZO Executive in Jerusalem, it was announced today by Council chairman Joachim Prinz.
There was unanimous agreement on the centrality of the State of Israel in Jewish life and on the autonomy of the various Jewish communities throughout the world, Dr. Prinz said. His announcement indicated that the recent differences between the two organizations–and between Dr. Goldmann and Pincus–have been resolved.
The differences stemmed from viewpoints expressed by Dr. Goldmann which were in some aspects at variance with the official Zionist line in Jerusalem. The WZO Executive barred Dr. Goldmann from addressing the 28th World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem last Jan. because of remarks he had made in a speech in London the previous Dec. relating to Soviet Jews. Dr. Goldmann’s contention at the time was that the bulk of Russian Jews will remain in the Soviet Union and that the struggle for their civil and religious rights deserved the same priority as their right to emigrate to Israel. The WZO denounced that viewpoint as inimical to immigration.
The JTA reported from Jerusalem May 24 that the WZO Executive “decided” at a plenary meeting that the WJC should henceforth be led by a group of persons that would act collectively on policy and administrative matters. When asked to comment on the report, Max Melamet, executive director of the WJC’s American Section told the JTA that recent changes in the organization’s top leadership struc- ture were not the result of pressure brought to bear by the WZO. Those changes included the establishment of an “inner executive” to share policy-making powers with the president. Dr. Prinz said the Governing Council’s discussions, led by Dr. Goldmann and Pincus, ranged over the gamut of problems concerning Jews all over the world and the WJC’s relations with other national and world organizations. The Governing Council unanimously reaffirmed the organization’s “unswerving support of the State of Israel” and saluted “the continuing sacrifices of its people.” It called on the international community to “facilitate” peace negotiations between Israel and Its neighbors.
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.
