Revisionists and Zionist Organisation: German Zionist Federation Follows Up German Revisionist Decis

Following the decision adopted by the Conference of the Zionist Revisionist Union in Germany (reported in yesterday’s J.T.A. Bulletin) to leave it open to its members as individuals to belong or not to belong to the local groups of the Zionist Federation of Germany, but declaring it no longer obligatory on its members to belong to the German Zionist Federation and recommending them to establish independent Revisionist groups, the Executive of the German Zionist Federation has adopted a decision to-day declaring that membership of the Zionist Revisionist Party is incompatible with membership of the Zionist Federation.

This decision, it adds, is not directed against the Revisionist idea, but against the attitude adopted by the German Revisionist Union, which can only be harmful to the interests of the Zionist movement. At the same time, the Executive of the German Zionist Federation has addressed an enquiry to the Zionist World Executive in London, asking it what attitude it is adopting with regard to the Calais decision of the Executive Committee of the World Union of Zionist Revisionists (given in the J.T.A. Bulletin of the 1st. inst.), to the effect that in view of the circumstance that a section of the members of the Revisionist Union have no desire to retain further their membership of the Zionist Organisation, the paragraph of the basic principles of Revisionism, which defines the Union as a whole as an integral part of the Zionist World Organisation is expunged from the new formulation of the basic principles, and the membership of the Revisionist Union is in future not restricted to Shekel-payers.

The report of the Zionist World Executive to the last Zionist Congress held in Basle in July (before the Calais decision) contained the following paragraph:

The structural character of this Union (Union of Zionist Revisionists) has assumed forms which can no longer be regarded with indifference from the constitutional point of view. The Union has acted not only as a political Congress party within the rights allowed to it by the Constitution, but has even gone further by endeavouring to form a separate inter-territorial organisation parallel to the World Zionist Organisation. It has established constituent bodies comprising local societies in different countries, which have held conferences; it has instituted a special membership contribution called “Dinar”, held periodical inter-territorial conferences modelled after the Zionist Congress and attended by elected delegates, and appointed at these conferences an Executive which had its headquarters first in Paris, then in Berlin, and now in London, and also created a number of independent financial and political institutions. The activity of the Union and of its institutions has escaped the control of the Executive owing to the fact that it is illegal from the point of view of our Constitution, as well as because of its known relationship towards the Zionist Organisation.