Congress Defeats Motion to Annul Agreement with Agency; Political Body Deadlocked

A motion offered by the Revisionists to the effect that the Zionist Congress should annul the agreement with the Jewish Agency which created a working basis between Zionists and non-Zionists for the upbuilding of Palestine was defeated at today’s plenary session of the Congress by a vote of 113 to 50. The General Zionists and the Laborites opposed the motion and the Revisionists voted for it. The Mizrachi (Orthodox Zionists) abstained from voting.

The agreement which the Revisionists proposed to annul was consummated in Zurich in August, 1929, after protracted negotiations in which the late Louis Marshall, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the late Lord Melchett and Felix M. Warburg played leading roles. Since its creation the Jewish Agency has been opposed by the Revisionists.

In discussing the relations between the Zionists and the non-Zionists, Vladimir Jabotinsky, Revisionist leader, called for a change in the constitution of the Jewish Agency so that its members would be limited to financial activities but have nothing to do with political work. In a five minute address he claimed that political cooperation with the non-Zionists was impossible but financial cooperation may be possible because the last two years, which were full of cries and catastrophies, cannot be considered as final proof that economic cooperation with the non-Zionists is not worthwhile.

This same Revisionist motion was rejected by the organization committee but the Revisionists brought it before the Congress in a minority resolution. As the Congress had referred all other resolutions of the organization committee to the Zionist Actions Committee, the Revisionists moved that the question of the Jewish Agency also be referred to the Actions Committee. This motion was also rejected by a vote of 121 to 48.

The next session of the Congress will convene tomorrow at 9.30 P. M. No sessions are held Friday evening or all day Saturday.