Herman L. Weisman, president of the Zionist Organization of America, said today that the ZOA “will not be intimidated in its decision to withdraw from the American Zionist Federation by either the unrealistic appeal of Rabbi Israel Miller, the Federation’s president, that the ZOA reconsider its decision, or by the intemperate and threatening language of Avraham Schenker, head of the organization department of the World Zionist Executive in Jerusalem, where he represents the leftist Mapam Party.”
The ZOA announced last week its withdrawal from the AZF citing the fact that the AZF is “committed” to conducting “a wide spectrum of Zionist activities” which “compete with, disrupt and supplant” important ongoing Zionist programs traditionally conducted by the ZOA. Rabbi Miller charged the ZOA with violating a unanimous resolution adopted by the 28th World Zionist Congress which stated that the Zionist Federation in each country “is the unified and comprehensive framework within which all organizations and institutions cooperate in order to plan and carry out their Zionist functions which are held in common by all.”
NO VIOLATION INVOLVED
Schenker stated that the ZOA’s withdrawal was an “ill-considered and ill-timed act which weakens the unity and cohesion of the Zionist movement” and urged the ZOA “to reconsider its action and return to the united Zionist fold.” In response, Weisman declared that the ZOA’s decision “in no way” violates the constitution of the WZO or any mandate of the 28th Congress. “Neither the Federation in New York nor Mr. Schenker in Jerusalem is vested with any authority to alter the ZOA’s decision to withdraw from the Federation.”
Weisman noted that the appeal for Zionist unity by Rabbi Miller, Schenker and Mrs. Faye L. Schenk, president of Hadassah, “sounds hollow in the light of their own partisan maneuvers during the recent election campaign to the Zionist Congress.” Weisman was referring to the ZOA’s difference with the AZF over the election of delegates to the Congress. Mrs. Schenk stated last week that the ZOA’s decision to withdraw “will perforce dissipate our energies in unworthy inter-organizational competition, confusing the public, rendering a disservice to Israel and hindering rather than furthering Zionist objectives.”
In his statement, Weisman reaffirmed the ZOA’s decision and its implementation “in order to preserve the independence and individuality of its own programs. We do not propose to continue to waste long hours in debate in the Federation’s committees. On both the national and local levels, this has proven an exercise in utter futility.” He noted further that “the Zionist Organization of America is convinced that its leadership and members can do far more for Zionism, Israel and the American Jewish community through its own ongoing and manifold programs.”
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.
