The oppositional activities of Mr. A. Goldberg, member of the Executive Committee of the Zionist Organization of America are closely connected with the crisis in the tobacco industry in Palestine, according to statements made today in well-informed German Zionist circles.
Recent reports from Palestine indicate that the activity of Mr. Goldberg has brought about a serious crisis in the tobacco industry in Palestine, in which much hope had been placed, and which had given employment to thousands of immigrants.
The fact that America frustrated the hope that it would consume part of the tobacco output will react on this industry. Mr. Goldberg therefore blames the Zionist Executive because it failed to endorse his agreement with the tobacco manufacturer, Lubliner, and he has started intense propaganda for the Brandeis group, declaring that without private initiative in Palestine, progress will be retarded.
The Zionist Executive refuted Mr. Goldberg’s charge that they are ignoring the necessity of private initiative in Palestine. It claims that the Zionist Executive is not the proper organ to conduct private enterprises. It further claims that Mr. Goldberg had no authority to conclude an agreement with Mr. Lubliner. They blame him for having harmed the tobacco industry in Palestine by his premature action.
They further contend that his propaganda for the idea of private initiative and for the Brandeis group is the result of the Zionist Executive having failed to endorse Mr. Goldberg’s activities and charge him with having revived the Brandeis group at a time when the Brandeis group in America seemed to be willing to join the three million dollar corporation promoted by Mr. Louis Marshall, which will be devoted to investment purposes in Palestine. An attempt was even made to declare that this Marshall investment corporation is a successor of the Brandeis group, despite the well known fact that it is due to the untiring efforts of Dr. Weizmann and represents the largest attempt ever made for obtaining capital for investment in Palestine.
That at this moment, when the plan for an investment corporation is about to be realized, a member of the Zionist Executive in America should engage in an attempt to discredit the Zionist Executive and charge them with lack of interest for obtaining capital for investment purposes and encourage private initiative, is a serious breach of loyalty which is keenly resented.
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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.
