World Union of General Zionists Replies to Zionist Confederation

The World Union of General Zionists today issued a statement replying to the World Confederation of General Zionists, which termed as “fallacious” the claim by the World Union that it speaks for two-thirds of all General Zionists. The reply by the World Union, issued by Jacques Torczyner, an officer of the organization, stated:

“The World Union of General Zionists sees no useful purpose to be served by a journalistic debate with the Goldstein-Halprin Confederation regarding the proportion of General Zionists represented by either of the two groupings. The World Conference for Unification of General Zionists recently held in Tel Aviv, was a great success. The new World Union formed there has attracted and now includes many organizations formerly affiliated with the Goldstein-Halprin grouping. This is notably the case throughout Latin America; and the same process is now underway in Europe, as well.

“Outside of England and the Hadassah in the United States, the Goldstein-Halprin group cannot point to a single organization of any size actually affiliated with it. The arithmetical or algebraic issue that has been raised will only be settled conclusively when the roll of delegates to the next Zionist Congress will be called. We are confident that our estimate will then be vindicated. Certainly, there is no room for doubt that the World Union already represents the largest grouping of General Zionist organizations within the world Zionist movement.

“As for the old issue of ‘identification’ and ‘non identification, ‘ we would simply point out that one of the basic principles unanimously adopted at our World Conference provides that our World Union shall function within the World Zionist Organization for Zionist purposes exclusively, and shall not intervene in the domestic policies of Israel or of any other country.”