Palestine’s Jewish authorities today proclaimed a draft of all unmarried Jews between the ages of 20 and 30, as the latest measure to meet the threat of an Axis drive towards Suez through Syria and the Holy Land.
A proclamation issued by the executive committees of the Jewish Agency for Palestine and the Jewish National Council (Vaad Leumi) set Sunday as the day for the compulsory enlistment. A special committee was appointed to consider applications for exemption.
Although 8,000 Jews are already serving in the British forces, mainly in Jewish units, the situation demands speedy enlargement of the ranks, the proclamation asserted.
Earlier this week the Palestine Jewish labor federation, Histadruth Haovdim, which numbers 125,000 industrial and farm workers, had announced compulsory enlistment of all its members between the ages of 20 and 35.
To spur the recruiting campaign, Australian troops, headed by military bands, paraded through the main streets of Tel Aviv, while Royal Air Force planes circled overhead.
Dr. M. Altman, leader of the Palestine Zionist-Revisionist group, conferred with Chief Government Secretary James McPherson and Major Clark, commanding officer of British forces in Palestine, on plans to convert the Jewish community into a war machine for more active defense of the country and aid to the British war effort. Both promised to forward his proposals to the proper authorities.
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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.
