Jewish Agency Budget to Be Major Topic at Actions Committee Session

The Jewish Agency’s budget for 1959-60 “will be the major topic at the forthcoming session of the Zionist Actions Committee,” Mrs. Rose L. Halprin, Acting Chairman of the American Executive of the Jewish Agency, stated here today prior to her departure for Israel.

Another topic on the agenda of the Actions Committee meeting this month will be a series of proposed changes in the constitution of the World Zionist Organization in the light of the next World Zionist Congress. The Actions Committee is the ruling body of the World Zionist Organization between Congresses.

Mrs. Halprin pointed out that the Jewish Agency’s responsibilities in Israel had been greatly increased by the arrival of some 30,000 additional immigrants during the past seven months. She noted that the total number of newcomers who had settled in Israel since the establishment of the State amounted to 936, 912.

Mrs. Halprin expressed the hope that the United Jewish Appeal’s current cash drive will enable the Jewish Agency to meet some of its most pressing obligations toward the rehabilitation of these post-statehood immigrants and make possible a sizeable reduction in the backlog of unmet needs which will run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

MRS. HALPRIN PLEADS FOR MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING AMONG ZIONISTS

In another statement issued by Mrs. Halprin in the capacity of co-chairman of the World Confederation of General Zionists, she said that the Actions Committee can no longer evade taking a final position on such basic problems as: the reorganization of the World Zionist Organization and revision of its constitution; the establishment of Zionist federations; the bringing of non-Zionists closer to the work of the Zionist movement and, finally, the scope and composition of the next Zionist Congress.

“The reorganized, Diaspora-based World Confederation of General Zionists has devoted a number of meetings to these various problems,” she pointed out. “Conferences of its regional branches in Europe and Latin America have also dealt with them. Prior to the Actions Committee sessions in Jerusalem, the World Confederation members of the Actions Committee will hold caucus meetings and will also confer with the Noy Committee to present the Confederation standpoint on the problems entrusted to that committee for study and recommendations.”

“The issues are clear. Unless, however, the discussions are conducted and conclusions are reached in a spirit of harmony and mutual understanding at the Actions Committee, it is a foregone conclusion that the next Zionist Congress will fall short of its historic mission. It is up to all the participating bodies to avoid such an eventuality. The World Confederation of General Zionists will, for its part, approach its task in a spirit of responsibility, unconstrained by party limitations, and with a sincere desire to achieve the ultimate good for the world Zionist movement.”