The World Confederation of General Zionists, headed by Dr. Israel Goldstein and Mrs. Rose Halprin — the competitive organization to the World Confederation of General Zionists, headed by Dr. Emanuel Neumann, which today concluded its conference in Tel Aviv and changed its name to World Union of General Zionists — issued the following statement here under the signature of Mrs. Halprin:
“The Neumann Confederation represents only a section of General Zionists throughout the world. Of a total of 150 General Zionist delegates to the 25th Zionist Congress, our Confederation headed by Dr. Goldstein and Mrs. Rose L. Halprin, had 81 delegates, and represented the largest single Diaspora bloc. Our Confederation represents General Zionist groups in the United States — Hadassah and the American Jewish League for Israel, — England, Holland, Belgium, Italy, France, Sweden, Germany, Greece and Austria, and many South American countries. Canada and South Africa, though in principle in agreement with the philosophy of non-identification with a political party enunciated by the Goldstein-Halprin group, have not yet committed themselves to either confederation, officially.
“The question is not whether Zionists can be ‘denied the moral right to have opinions regarding Israeli affairs,’ as Dr. Neumann stated, No thoughtful Zionist can fail to have such opinions. The question is whether General Zionist groupings should be affiliated in any organizational form with a political party in Israel and, more specifically, with the Liberal Party. The Zionists of the Diaspora have a sense of involvement and partnership, but it is with Israel as a whole, and not with any political spokesmen.
“It is this principle of non-identification which separates the two Confederations of General Zionists. Hadassah and a large part of three continents maintained adherence to this principle when the split took place several years ago. They could hardly be designated as ‘dissident groups,’ but should be viewed as the mainspring of what has always been recognized as a central tenet of General Zionist philosophy.”
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