The 70th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress and the 50th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration were marked in an extraordinary three-hour jubilee session of the Knesset (Parliament) here today. The chamber was packed with dignitaries from Israel and abroad and deputies of all factions except the splinter New Communist party which boycotted the event. Unexplained absent as well was Israel’s elder statesman, former Prime Minister David Ben Gurion.
Among those present were President and Mrs. Zalman Shazar, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and his cabinet, the two chief rabbis, British Postmaster-General Edward Short, head of a special Balfour Day delegation sent by the British Government, and some 100 members of the British Joint Palestine Appeal delegation here on a special study mission.
The Speaker of the Knesset, Kadish Luz, recalled the First Zionist Congress in Basle in 1897. Prime Minister Eshkol evaluated the Balfour Declaration and spoke of the important political influence and personality of the late Dr. Chaim Weizmann who was Israel’s first president.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
