A warning that the World Zionist Movement is undergoing a serious crisis because of a lack of definition of function between the Zionist movement outside Israel and the Israel Government was sounded here tonight by Dr. Emanuel Neumann, former president of the Zionist Organization of America.
Speaking at a gathering at the Statler Hotel arranged by the five Metropolitan Regions of the Z.O.A., Dr. Neumann also called for unity within the movement by elimination of the present party system in all countries outside of Israel. He asserted that the “interplay of party interests” has also complicated to a tragic degree the relations between the Government of Israel and the Zionist movement.
The American Zionist leader declared that despite all attempts at clarification, “there is growing confusion regarding the present status of organized Zionism and its future role, both here and in other countries.” This condition, he continued, “is having a depressing effect on all phases of Jewish effort in aid of Israel, notably in the field of fund-raising and the mobilization of investment capital and in the field of public relations and political support.”
The central problem of Zionism today is its relationship with the “sovereign state of Israel,” Dr. Neumann insisted. The partnership between Zionism outside of Israel and the people of Israel “seems to be weakening if not actually dissolving” despite official announcements to the contrary, he said. He called on the Jews of Israel to “clarify their own thought” on the future relationships between their country and the Jews of the remainder of the world.
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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.
