American Zionist leadership was attacked here today by Premier David Ben Gurion for failing to move to Israel following the establishment of the Jewish state.
Speaking in Parliament, the Premier said that if the gates of the Soviet Union are not opened for Jews to migrate to Israel, the Jewish state will soon face a grave problem of lack of immigrants.
Mr. Ben Gurion then lashed out at the American Zionist leaders. He questioned whether “the leadership of American Zionism had gone bankrupt with the establishment of the Jewish state, if 50 leaders did not rise to come to Israel. However, he added that “even if they came, it is doubtful whether a big immigration from the United States would follow.”
“Catastrophic immigration”–the transfer of entire Jewish communities to Israel–is now coming to an end, the Premier told Parliament. “It will cease within the next few years, ” he warned. His remarks were made in reply to questions about the decision of the Jewish Agency to introduce a system of selective immigration to Israel.
Mr. Ben Gurion denied that the new policy restricts immigration. He said that the Agency’s decision is in complete accord with the law of returning all “Jews in exile” to the Jewish state. He also took issue with Herut and General Zionist deputies who claimed that the Agency’s decision practically restricts immigration, in an effort to dictate the future structure of the Yishuv.
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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.
