More than. 1,000 leading members of the Zionist organization of America, meeting here today in an all-day extraordinary national conference, unanimously adopted a resolution expressing confidence in the “administration headed by Dr. Abba Hillel Silver and Dr. Emanuel Neumann,”
The resolution noted that the “conference heard the reports rendered by the national administration on recent developments in our movement in its various aspects, including fund-raising, and having reviewed these developments and the position taken by the administration with regard to the problems which have arisen, effecting the status and future of the movement, hereby expresses its full confidence in the ad-ministration,” The resolution added; “The conference voices its approval of the position taken by its responsible officers and spokesmen and the policies they have pursued. We declare that the Zionist Organization of America in its overwhelming majority stands fr##y united behind its democratically-elected leadership whose historic services to the cause of Zionism and Israel reborn will be forever enshrined in the history of our people.”
Other resolutions adopted at the parley hailed the “historic convening in the ancient, eternal city of Jerusalem” of the first Constituent Assembly of Israel; “noted with satisfaction” the success of the Food for Israel campaign; and urged all Z.O.A. members to “redouble their efforts towards increasing our ranks” to continue to provide unstinting financial support for the United Jewish Appeal and for the many vital projects of the organization.”
Dr. Silver declared in a statement released at the conference that the Z.O.A. is a “democratically-elected body, within which there is room for differences of opinion and points of view. This present administration, elected at the last Zionist convention,, can be changed, if the Zionists so desire, at the next Zionist convention. In the meantime, a minority cannot act as if it were the majority, nor can the Z.O.A. be captured by the expenditure of a quarter of a million dollars by the opposition. The place to agitate for a change in the administration is not in the public press.”
Dr. Neumann asserted in a statement: “I deeply regret that the opposition has again displayed lack of responsibility by indulging in another broadside given to the press at the very time when the national conference was in session and when prominent spokesmen for the opposition were expected to present their point of view, and were, in fact, given full opportunity to speak and availed themselves of it. We had hoped to avoid further recriminations in the press and had taken precautions to avoid it. The conference after a full discussion has adopted a resolution of confidence in my administration by an overwhelming majority. That’s the best answer to the opposition. I let it go at that.”
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.
