The sensational reports coming from the Jewish press in Palestine and in Poland that the Zionist Executive has reached a new secret agreement with the Revisionists, according to which a special Zionist Congress is to be called to appoint Dr. Weizmann president and Jabotinsky vice-president of the World Zionist Organization, should be taken as nothing more than gross exaggeration.
It is true that secret negotiations between both parties are still going on. The central points of these negotiations is, however, not the calling of a special congress, but the question of how to regulate the sharp friction now existing in the field of employment of Jewish workers in Palestine.
A FANTASY
It would be a mere fantasy to speak of convoking a special Zionist Congress now, when the regular Zionist Congress is to be summoned next Summer anyway. The negotiations which the Executive is carrying on with the different Zionist groups for internal peace in the Zionist movement are not yet concluded. They will probably not conclude so soon. There can therefore be no talk about calling a special Zionist Congress until unity has been reached.
The rumors carried by the Jewish press in Palestine and in Poland about Weizmann-Jabotinsky coalition, with Weizmann becoming president and Jabotinsky vice-president of the Zionist Organization, are therefore doing more harm than good to the negotiations now being carried on by the Zionist Executive. They only hamper these negotiations. They create an atmosphere of unhealthy excitement.
REVOLT OF THE EXTREMISTS
It is no secret that a great number of Revisionists are dissatisfied with Jabotinsky’s leadership. They should not like to see Jabotinsky sit at one table with Ben-Gurion. They should not like him altogether to enter any negotiations with the Executive. These extremists in the Revisionist Party—the followers of the now-imprisoned Aba Achimeir—will certainly utilize the reports about the alleged Weizmann – Jabotinsky coalition to proclaim Jabotinsky a “traitor” to their movement and to break away from him.
The same is true also with regard to Ben-Gurion. The Palestine Labor Party too has its extremists, who should not like to see Ben-Gurion coming to any understanding with Jabotinsky. These Laborite extremists—the Hashomer Hatzair group and the Left Poale-Zion—are already dissatisfied with the peace reached between Ben-Gurion and Jabotinsky to prevent terroristic acts in the Zionist movement. They already consider Ben-Gurion a “traitor.” It is these extreme wings in both parties which are doing their best to hinder the negotiations now going on.
THE ACTUAL TRUTH
There will be no special Zionist Congress. A Weizmann-Jabotinsky coalition is also not a matter of the near future. The next Zionist Congress will not take place before the end of next Summer. Before this congress is convoked there will be a session of the Actions Committee as soon as the Zionist Executive in London succeeds in bringing all conflicting parties to an understanding. This is the sole truth. The rest is just speculation.
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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.
