American Jewry’s role in support of Israel and in the Zionist movement came to the fore today as the 23rd World Zionist Congress continued its general debate.
Allegations that the Zionist movement in the Western countries and particularly in the United States, was not doing enough in the provision of pioneering elements for the Jewish State were aired by many delegates. Leading American delegates took the stand in reply to these charges that they were ready to provide manpower but could only do so gradually, not on a mass basis. They pointed out that the Jews in America, unlike the Jews in many other countries, are not motivated by fears over their security as part of the American community and have no reason to be motivated by such fears.
Most of the Israelis who have addressed the Congress since its opening Tuesday night have stressed manpower as the most urgent need of the country and it appeared today that the Israeli Government and many Israeli Zionists are ready to measure the potency of the Zionist movement in overseas countries by its ability to provide manpower.
This viewpoint was presented to the Congress today by Eliahu Dobkin, a member of the Mapai Party and head of the Jewish Agency’s youth and pioneering department. He told the Congress that only a strong Zionist movement could provide Israel with this necessary manpower, asserting that non-Zionists could never ignite the enthusiasm of Jewish youth and provide the type of education indispensable to creating a climate conducive to the production of idealists willing to make sacrifices for Israel through pioneering.
AMERICAN ZIONIST LEADERS OPPOSE INTENSIFIED RECRUITMENT OF CHALUTZIM IN U.S.
Benjamin Browdy, Dr. Emanuel Neumann, Mrs. Rose Halprin and Mrs. Judith Epstein all expressed opposition to demands that American Zionism concentrate its greatest efforts in the direction of enlisting American Zionist youths to migrate to Israel. Mr. Browdy asserted that the American Zionist Movement is prepared “to train youth in those trades and professions in which they will not only make a living but which Israel most requires.” However, he warned that preaching emigration of American Zionist youth “by instilling fear in them” will not work. He insisted that American Zionists “will not create an exodus psychology.”
Mrs. Halprin and Mrs. Epstein, Hadassah leaders, developed a viewpoint opposing that of Mr. Dobkin’s. They told the Congress that the Jews in the United States feel secure. They said that the pro-Israel picture in the United States is good and there are reasons to be “grateful and optimistic” despite occasional setbacks. Mrs. Epstein repudiated statements reported in the American press that a crisis in Israeli-American relations was shaping up as a result of a new “hardness” toward Israel on the part of the U.S. Government.
Dr. Neumann declared that pioneer immigration is the “collective responsibility of Zionism, but I cannot subscribe to the view that it is the individual responsibility of each individual Zionist.” He added, however, that without such pioneering immigration the Zionist movement ceases to be just that.
A spokesman for the Russian-oriented Mapam Party, Itzhak Bar-Yehuda of Israel, replying to the statements by American delegates that a mass immigration from the United States could not be expected by Israel because American Jews did not live in fear, warned the American Zionists that they were living under an illusion. “In 10 or 15 years from now, you too may be faced with the need for sanctuary,” he asserted. “It may be too late by then for you will be unable to draw out your resources. And eventually you will be forced to resort to labor anyhow, because this country will not be able to maintain itself without workers.”
Eliezer Libneh, Israeli Mapai leader, told the Congress that if the Jews of the United States fell, Israel would also be doomed. “How would we feel as a minority in Asia, if the Jewry of the United States were exposed to racial persecution?” he asked. He declared that to offset the disadvantage of being a minority in the Orient, Israel needed the talents of numbers of American Jews. He urged Zionists living in overseas countries to Hebraize their names and acquire a knowledge of the Hebrew language.
DR. GOLDSTEIN LAUDS TRUMAN’S AID TO ISRAEL; BROWDY WANTS STRONG ZIONIST MOVEMENT
Dr. Israel Goldstein, American Zionist leader and chairman of the World Confederation of General Zionists, praised President Truman’s aid to Israel. He demanded a special status for the Zionist movement in Israel, maintaining that Zionists can mobilize Jews throughout the world in support of Israel’s struggles and campaigns for its political rights.
Dr. Goldstein insisted upon the rights of Zionists in all parts of the world to express their views on Israeli affairs and to support their political counterparts in the Jewish state. Although he opposed the elimination of the various Zionist political parties in countries outside Israel, he conceded the need to reorganize the movement.
A “strong World Zionist Organization with autonomy” in its own spheres and in full possession of its powers and manifold functions was demanded by Mr. Browdy, who told the Congress that “there can be no substitute” for the Zionist organization. He drew upon the experiences of his own Z.O.A. to prove “what can be done by a strong organization.”
The American Zionist leader warned that it was a “dangerous illusion” to attempt to do away with or to reduce this force. “We have no desire to interfere in the internal affairs of Israel,” he stated, “but we have every desire to make sure its foundations are firm and will resist the ravages of time.”
Dr. Max Kirschbloom, American Mizrachi delegate, attacked Israel’s “coolness” to Zionist veterans at a time when “Zionism cannot waste the energies of any one.” He advocated continuation of the party system in the Zionist movement because “only those imbued with ideological zeal can be enthusiastic Zionists.”
Two pleas for unity were voiced at the Congress today. Former Israeli Minister of Education. Zalman Shazar, of the Mapai, said it would be unfortunate if the Congress turned out to be a gathering of dissension. Barnett Janner, president of the British Zionist Federation, in a plea for harmony, expressed fears that Zionists in Europe would be caught in a struggle between the “power blocs” of Israeli and United States Zionism. He proposed the establishment of an European branch of the Zionist Executive.
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