Zionist Congress Postponed: Decision Adopted by Actions Committee Meeting by Twenty Votes Against El

The postponement of the Sixteenth Zionist Congress which had been fixed for February was decided on by the Actions Committee at its resumed meeting held last night and continued till the early hours of this morning. Because of the very late hour, the meeting adjourned without fixing the new date of the Congress, which is to be decided on at a special meeting to be held to-day at the offices of the Zionist Organisation.

The decision to postpone the Congress was adopted by 20 votes against 11. When the result was announced, Rabbi Fishman, in the name of the Mizrachi group, declared that under the circumstance, the Mizrachi was withdrawing from the Zionist Executive. Rabbi Mayer Berlin, the Mizrachi leader, who had withdrawn his previously tendered resignation from the Executive until the Actions Committee meeting, thereupon announced his definite resignation.

Dr. Nahum Goldmann, who represents the Radical Zionists on the Political Commission, said that he was in a very difficult position, because his group had decided that he should resign if the Congress was postponed. He was remaining, however, until the next meeting of the Executive of his party, which will decide whether he is to resign or not.

The report of the Political Committee presented by its Chairman, Rabbi Deputy Dr. Nurok, was unanimously approved, and the report of the Finance Committee was adopted, recommending a number of economy measures in the budget of the Zionist Organisation, and methods of raising new funds, among them the sending of a delegation to America to open a big new campaign there.

Dr. Ch. Weizmann delivered a long address, in the course of which he said that he was willing to continue the work, on condition that there was a strict discipline introduced into the Zionist Organisation and the atmosphere was cleansed.

He complained of the campaign created all the time against him by the Opposition, which, he said, was creating an unhealthy atmosphere for the entire movement. He had nothing against the Opposition, he said, but he felt that the methods of the Opposition were not honest.

Deputy Gruenbaum, Mr. Meer Grossman, Rabbi Mayer Berlin and several other speakers followed Dr. Weizmann. Deputy Grushbaum contended that his group had never attacked Dr. Weizmann in the way in which he had suggested in his speech.

Mr. Grossman claimed that if there was no peace in the Zionist Organisation, it was Dr. Weizmann’s own fault. There had been a time, he said, when Dr. Weizmann could have helped to bring about a reconciliation with the Revisionists.