There is a crisis in the ranks of the American Zionist movement as a result of a decision by the American Zionist Federation to elect delegates by mail ballot to the World Zionist Congress scheduled to be held next Jan, in Jerusalem, according to an article in the Sept. 17 issue of The Jewish News of Detroit. The unsigned article states that “there is the possibility that the Zionist Organization of America will secede” from the AZF because of the election procedure. According to the article, spokesmen for the ZOA said they opposed the mail ballot method of elections demanding instead direct balloting at voting booths to choose delegates.
In addition, the article continued, there was also “some charge that there is possibility of mail-ballot-stuffing and they (the ZOA) cannot accept such “undemocratic methods” of selecting delegates to a democratic assembly.” The article further noted that the ZOA was responding to a statement issued by the AZF on Sept. 13 in which Rabbi Israel Miller, AZF president, announced that a nationwide ballot will be conducted this fall to elect 152 delegates. A spokesman for the ZOA told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today that a detailed statement will be issued tomorrow explaining the views of that organization.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
