The prompt reply given by Mr. Ben-Gurion to Jabotinsky’s challenge makes it clear that the Zionist Executive will not make any concessions to the Revisionists on the question of internal discipline. From this reply we also learn that the Revisionists may not be permitted to participate in the coming Zionist Congress unless they submit to discipline.
This leaves the Revisionists only one course. Either they must accept the demand for discipline and subordinate themselves to the World Executive or they lay themselves open to ejection from the Zionist party even before the next Zionist Congress assembles.
The reply by Mr. Ben-Gurion does not answer the charges made by Jabotinsky against the Executive. It also avoids answering the question as to why the Executive does not desire a round table conference of representatives of all the Zionist groups. It makes it plain, however, that independent political action on the part of the Revisionists will no longer be tolerated by the Executive.
WAR RESUMED
The war in the Zionist Organization is thus resumed. The exchange of war declarations between Jabotinsky and Ben-Gurion contains sufficient emphasis to indicate that this time the war will be more serious than ever before; that it is the intention of both sides to fight their battle out long before the next Zionist Congress is convoked.
It is not difficult to predict that the Revisionists will be thrown out of the Zionist party this time if no round table conference is convoked in the nearest possible future. The next session of the Actions Committee will definitely be converted into a stormy arena of hot fighting, out of which the Revisionists will no doubt emerge the losers.
What will happen then? Will we have two separate Zionist Organizations? Are we to play into the hands of the Colonial Office and to help it execute its policy of “dividing and conquering?”
Under the present circumstances in Palestine nobody can tell how the British government may utilize the establishment of another Zionist Organization, which Jabotinsky will probably set up if the Revisionists are declared not an integral part of the present Zionist Organization. No person in the world can foresee whether the Revisionists will really be ignored by the Palestine government. One thing is certain, however, true to its traditions, the Colonial Office will no doubt play one organization against the other in order to strengthen the position of the Palestine government.
The ultimatum for discipline which Ben-Gurion voiced yesterday in reply to Jabotinsky’s challenge is no doubt justified. If this ultimatum should however, lead to the expulsion of the Revisionists from the Zionist Organization, it will only pour more water on the millstones of the Palestine government. This is what must be remembered before any drastic steps are taken.
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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.
