Dulzin Critical of Government’s Handling of Aliya, Absorption

Leon Dulzin, chairman of the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency Executives, said on a radio interview yesterday that the present government is as bad as the previous one with respect to aliya and absorption. “I am not satisfied with the priority that the government is giving this matter, “he said. He said he expected more decisive action on the part of Premier Menachem Begin when he returns from the summit conference at Camp David.

Dulzin, a member of the Liberal Party which is part of the Likud, defended the right of various personages to criticize the Begin government. “We live in a democracy and they are entitled to say what they like, ” the WZO chief declared. He was referring to recent criticisms of Begin’s policies voiced by Michael Sacher and Allen Pollack, members of the Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors, and by Dulzin’s wife, Annette, in open letters published in the Jerusalem Post last month.

Dulzin expressed a sense of disappointment with Zionist leaders in the diaspora but did not demand that they resign if they fail to immigrate to Israel within a specified time after taking office.

He announced that the co-chairmen of the WZO and Jewish Agency settlement departments, Raanan Weitz and Matityahu Drobless, reached an agreement “in good spirit” this week to divide their work responsibilities and cooperate with each other.

Dulzin said details of the agreement would be disclosed at the next WZO Executive meeting next Monday. He said that each co-chairman would be in charge of seven settlement units but did not specify what the units would be. “I have always preferred having one chairman but political considerations demand an additional one,” he said. Weitz was recently under fire for suggesting the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip.