Dr. Nahum Goldmann, chairman of the American section of the Jewish Agency, who arrived here last night from Israel, told a press conference today that he “went to Israel to participate in an emergency discussion with the Israel section of the Jewish Agency on the present financial crisis.”
Dr. Goldmann said: “The situation in Israel is serious and I have come to South Africa to say bluntly that if the problem is not solved, catastrophe is around the corner.” The Agency leader added that Israel’s rate of immigration–” greater than in any other country in the world”–has imposed a “terrific burden on Israel.” Dr. Goldmann said that the Israel Government is already making a “greater contribution than world Jewry “in absorbing new immigrants.
It is the “responsibility of world Jewry to shoulder this burden more adequately,” he stressed, warning that failure to do so necessitates–against Israel’s will–limitation on immigration “at a time when it is imperative to keep the doors open to Jews from the Arab states and from the countries of Eastern Europe.”
Asked whether the World Zionist Congress is likely to be postponed, Dr. Goldmann replied that the scheduled date remains, but if the Congress Hall, which is now under construction in Jerusalem, is not completed in time, it may be necessary to postpone the Congress until Passover or some time after that. “Whatever happens,” said Dr. Goldmann, “the date of the Shekel returns and elections is unchanged.”
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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.
