Leon Dulzin, acting chairman of the Jewish Agency and World Zionist Organization Executives, told reporters last night that he would withdraw his candidacy for the chairmanship if Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir enters the race. Dulzin, returning from a three-day visit to London where he presided at a conference of world Jewish leaders on Soviet Jewry, disclosed that before he left Israel Sapir "asked me what my position would be if he presented his candidacy for the chairmanship of the Jewish Agency Executive."
Dulzin said his reply was that in that case "I would withdraw my candidacy." He said, however, that he would remain in the race if his opponent was Hebrew University President Avraham Harman, an earlier choice of the Labor Party. The new chairman of the WZO and Jewish Agency, succeeding the late Louis Pincus, will be elected by the Jewish Agency General Assembly when it convenes here next month. Dulzin said he thought the Jewish Agency-WZO chairman must be a consensus candidate-and indicated that he felt Sapir was a consensus candidate. He said he saw no reason for him not to continue as Agency-WZO treasurer (his present post) under Sapir’s chairmanship.
Sapir’s possible candidacy for the prestigious and influential post emerged several weeks ago. The Finance Minister, who rejected offers of the Premiership to succeed Mrs. Golda Meir. indicated to close associates that he was interested in handling immigration problems. That, and the fact that he asked Dulzin’s reaction to his possible candidacy, indicated that the Labor Party "strongman" was seriously interested in the Job.
Another possible candidate recently mentioned, Foreign Minister Abba Eban, has reportedly told his close associates that he doesn’t want the post. Eban has indicated that he would be prepared to serve as Foreign Minister in a new Cabinet headed by Yitzhak Rabin despite his serious differences with Rabin and is, in any event, leaving open all options for participating in the new government.
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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.
