The concept that only a person committed to living in Israel can be a Zionist was challenged here by the head of the largest single Zionist organization in the world. In remarks prepared for delivery at the opening session of its mid-winter conference Saturday night, Mrs. Mortimer Jacobson, of New York, national president of Hadassah, declared that Jewry outside of Israel “has a significant role to play in the collective survival of the Jewish people and we will not accept the definition or philosophy that a Zionist is only one who is committed to living in Israel.” She went on to say that “it is our job to create the atmosphere for Aliyah (immigration), but it is only the realities of life in Israel that will get Olim (immigrants) to stay…The repudiation of Zionism, unless it means personal Aliyah, will not only fail to bring one more Jew to Israel, but will discourage those who are working to help Aliyah.”
Mrs. Jacobson was to speak before 150 Hadassah leaders representing the organization’s 318,000 members in the United States and more than 2,000 in Israel. The gathering here is the first major Hadassah conference to be held in Israel. The opening session will be attended by President Zalman Shazar and Mrs. Shazar.
Mrs. Jacobson outlined in detail Hadassah’s continuing efforts to promote immigration and the success it has had among the organization’s young adult and youth sections. Of those members preparing to settle in Israel, she said “we didn’t force them. They came to this decision themselves. However, we feel that it would be a great disservice to make those who decided not to come to Israel feel that there is no important Zionist mission to fill in American life.”
“Zionism,” Mrs. Jacobson said, “is being attacked by the extreme left and the extreme right, by the Soviet Government, by Arab politicians, by the militant New Politics Movement in the United States. When Israel leaders also attack – though their motives are far different – it takes real conviction to hold on to our beliefs.” Organizations, like individuals, the Hadassah leader said, should not be required to prove “a uniqueness” in order to justify their existence.
“It is the task of Zionists to translate the concepts of Jewish unity and the centrality of Israel into an action program,” Mrs. Jacobson said. “This means influencing the course of Jewish education and encouraging Jewish students to learn about Israel at first hand through work and study programs. It does not mean that we do not understand Israel’s need for Western Aliyah.”
She asked: “Will the future needs of Israel and the Jewish people be better served with, or without an organized, identifiable Zionist movement? No one is more critical than Hadassah of the vexations and frustrations of Zionist organizational life. “Nevertheless,” she said, “we are convinced that a candid and objective evaluation will yield an affirmative answer.”
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