A basic reorganization of the United Palestine Appeal and other Zionist fund-raising agencies on the American scene is the principal item on the agenda of a forthcoming national conference to be called by the United Palestine Appeal, Rudolf G. Sonneborn, U.P.A. national chairman, announced today upon his return from a two-month stay in Israel.
Mr. Sonneborn, who was a delegate to the recently concluded World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem, declared that “the conference which will be convened as soon as possible in Washington, D.C., must implement the basic decision of the Congress to streamline and consolidate the Zionist Funds.” Mr. Sonneborn said that one of the major intentions of the reorganization will be “to avoid the mechanistic distribution of funds in this country and to put in its stead channeling of all contributions directly to Israel where they will be allocated by a central commission in terms of requirements of the immigration and upbuilding program.”.
The U.P.A., which has represented the Palestine Foundation Fund and the Jewish National Fund, will serve as the American agency for a central Israel fund, while the Jewish National Fund will be an autonomous body engaging in traditional collections, Mr. Sonneborn stated. He emphasized that “the outline of the new plan was tentative and still to be worked out.”
“American Jews, as a whole, do not wish to identify themselves with internal Israel politics,” the U.P.A. chairman declared. He stated that Americans “should derive the greatest satisfaction from the role that the U.S. Government has played in terms of Israel through its active political and economic support.”
With regard to the food situation in Israel, he underscored its extremely critical nature, pointing out that the cities whose populations were constantly growing have been bearing the brunt of the severe austerity. “There are no shortages in the rural areas,” he declared, and “even in the cities there are adequate supplies of basic staples such as bread, cheese, fish and similar items. The people of Israel are not panicked, serious as the condition is, and they are going about their daily lives of working and building with highly admirable determination,” he said.
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