The negotiations which the World Zionist Executive started in London with representatives of different Zionist groups for bringing internal peace and unity into the Zionist ranks enter their third stage today.
Two weeks ago the Executive completed its negotiations with the representatives of the Revisionist party. Last week it completed its negotiations with the General Zionists. Today the Executive opens its negotiations with the representatives of the Mizrachi group.
At no other time was unity in the Zionist ranks as imperative as it is at the present moment, when Palestine Jewry is facing the danger of having a Legislative Council established in the country. The mobilization of all Zionist forces for the sake of forming a united Jewish front was never as urgent as it is now, when Jewish rights in Palestine are threatened by the projected Legislative Council.
It is therefore regrettable to see that the negotiations which the Executive has opened for the purpose of consolidating the Zionist movement have so far not produced the desired results. The Revisionists, it seems, do not find their way clear to accept the peace terms of the Executive, since the basic condition in these terms provides for subjecting the Revisionist party to a discipline which they find it impossible to obey. Similarly, this seems to be the case with the General Zionists, who could not come to terms with the Executive during the negotiations of last week with regard to the problem of employment and labor in Palestine.
One need not be too pessimistic to predict that the negotiations which the Executive opened today with the Mizrachi will also fail to result in a complete understanding. Too great is the opposition of the Mizrachi toward the present Executive and too antagonistic are its demands. A peace conference lasting a few hours is hardly likely to straighten out the differences existing at present between the Mizrachi and the Executive.
The efforts of the Executive to bring about internal peace in the Zionist movement are nevertheless to be commended. They show that the Executive is seriously thinking of ways and means to reconcile the various groups in the Zionist movement. Whether or not these efforts bring any concrete results at present, they will serve a good purpose. They will mark the beginning of negotiations for armistice. And where there is armistice there will be peace.
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.
