Silver Hopes U.s.-british Negotiations on Palestine Will Not Be Protracted

The hope that the negotiations on Palestine between the governments of the United States and Britain “will not be long protracted” and that the Jewish Agency will be made a party to them, was expressed here today by Dr. Abba Hillel Silver, leader of the American Zionist movement, in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Dr. Silver, who played a leading role at the World Zionist Conference which concluded in London last week, said that there need be no fear about the necessity of sending 500,000 American soldiers, or any fraction of that number, to keep the peace in Palestine.

“Palestine has been a center of tension for so long just because no clear, firm and sustained decision backed by an unwavering authority was ever made,” Dr. Silver said. “The Arabs were encouraged to believe that a threat of violence will always succeed in preventing the implementation of the Balfour Declaration and the Palestine Nandate. Palestine is no exception to the many areas of political rivalry and tension in the post-war world concerning which decisions are being made today by the great powers of the world, which they are resolved to back up with their prestige and authority. The Jewish rights in Palestine cannot be made dependent on Arab consent. The Jewish problem is not an Arabian, but a world problem.”

Commenting on the results of the World Zionist Conference, Dr. Silver said: “The conference defined afresh in unmistakable terms the classic Zionist postition and committed all Zionist officials to strict adherence to it. It was realized that there can be no thought of extremist or moderates in the conduct of the movement. The conference revealed fundamental agreement, and such differences as did exist were quickly resolved once the political decisions were adopted.”