There is something in the Zionist movement which must appeal to the hearts not only of all directly concerned, but also of everyone else, as it appeals to me and the rest of the non-Jewish Community in South Africa, General Herzog, the South African Prime Minister, said at a banquet given here in honour of Dr. Weizmann and Dr. Goldsteim, who are heading the South African Keren Hayesod campaign, at which £6,200 were raised for the Keren Hayesod.
Zionism, the Premier went on, may succeed and may fail, but it will leave its indelible traces on the hearts and the great qualities of the Jewish race. The effect of the Zionist movement will be to put the Jewish people in the position of realising their great ideals. That, indeed, is a very great thing.
I have not the least doubt, he declared, that Dr. Weizmann will find in South Africa the greatest and most willing and heartiest help and assistance for the wonderful work of upbuilding the Jewish National Home.
It is true, he continued, that times are bad, but I am an optimist, and we all must be optimists. I am sure that the dark cloud of depression which is hanging over the world will pass and the Zionist movement will still be in strength and happy to receive the greatest possible support of its children in South Africa.
The Jews, the Prime Minister said, are not only a numerical but an integral part of the South African nation. I was born and grew up among Jews, he told the gathering. They were my comrades in peace and war; they shared our experiences and fought at our side like any other South Africans. We have learned to respect the Jew. Differences, he added, occur only with politicians on the political platform.
General Smuts, the South African ex-Premier and leader of the Opposition, who was a member of the British War Cabinet which issued the Balfour Declaration, also delivered a speech in which he paid a warm tribute to Dr. Weizmann and to the Zionist cause.
Dr. Weizmann and Dr. Goldstein both spoke, urging the need of funds for the continuation of the work that is being carried on# by the Jewish Agency in Palestine.
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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.
