Differences of opinion with regard to Israel developed yesterday between Louis Hollander, president of the New York State C.I.O., and Israel Feinberg, a vice-president of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, both of whom were members of a delegation which visited Israel recently under the auspices of the Jewish Labor Committee.
Reporting their impressions at a luncheon of the American Trade Union Council, one of the groups supporting the Histadrut, Mr. Hollander decried the unwillingness of visitors to Israel to criticize the Jewish state in any particular, while Mr. Feinberg disagreed with most of Mr. Hollander’s views.
“Some of the Zionists, “Mr. Hollander said, “work the same system towards Israel that the Communists use when they see nothing wrong in Russia. In Soviet Russia, if they dare to criticize the country, they are called red-baiters. Then Zionists who don’t say everything is wonderful in Israel should be called Jew-baiters.”
Declaring that he is not a Jew-baiter, Mr. Hollander urged Jews “to analyze the situation” in Israel. He asserted that despite the best efforts of the United Jewish Appeal, the Jewish state will need $900,000,000 in the next three years to build up her industry. This money, he declared, can and should come largely through Marshall Plan aid. The Government of Israel, he declared, has refused to request that aid for fear of antagonizing the Mapam and other leftist groups.
DISTORTED PICTURE ON JEWISH LIFE IN U.S. GIVEN IN ISRAEL
Mr. Hollander said that something must be done in the United States to counteract misconceptions in Israel on the status of the Jews in this country. He charged the Israeli press with giving a distorted picture of the life of the Jews in the United States, spreading the impression that there is far more widespread anti-Semitism here than actually exists. “I would not want to see ‘Israel over everything’ but ‘ Israel part of everything,'” he stated.
The C.I.O. leader also criticized the Histadrut for assuming leadership in the field of enterprise in Israel. He called for a division of the Histadrut functions, with the labor organization giving up its control over various industries. Both Mr. Hollander and Mr. Feinberg agreed that the Jews in Israel would die rather than yield the country to Stalin. They emphasized that Russia and its satellites are not popular in Israel.
In taking issue with Mr. Hollander on other aspects of his report, Mr. Feinberg said that Israel’s was essentially an economy offering equality of opportunity. With such an outlook, he stressed, Histadrut was not being inconsistent in aiding workers and at the same time operating industries.
Mr. Feinberg predicted that Israel would soon receive Marshall Plan aid. He said that while he is strongly opposed to Communism, as indicated by his past record, he could understand the Israeli Government’s caution about offending Russia, especially since that nation had supported Israel in the United Nations.
On the question of “Israeli chauvinism” raised by Mr. Hollander, Mr. Feinberg said that during the early years of a nation when great sacrifices are necessary in war and in peace, it is natural for young people to be enthusiastic about their country. “This is not chauvinlem but the kind of patriotism necessary for the building of the new state,” he pointed out.
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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.
