Prof. Selig Brodetsky, head of the political department of the World Zionist Executive in London, deserves great credit for his attempt to bring the Revisionists back to the Zionist Organization.
The speech which he delivered this week at the convention of the Zionist Federation in England, asking the Revisionists to return to the Zionist ranks, will go on record as evidence that not all members of the Zionist Executive in London are responsible for the present split in the Zionist Organization.
A SINCERE DESIRE
Prof. Brodetsky, a man with a logical trend of mind and with a sincere desire to serve the interests of the entire Zionist movement rather than the interests of one group, has always been for peace at any price within the Zionist ranks. Carrying the heavy responsibility for the political work of the Zionist Organization before the outside world, Prof. Brodetsky realized, more than any other member of the Zionist Executive, the harm which the movement will suffer once the Revisionists are pushed out of the organization.
The sentiments of Prof. Brodetsky were, however, little shared by Mr. Locker, the other member of the Zionist Executive in London. By promulgating various schemes, Mr. Locker succeeded in forcing the Revisionists out of the Zionist Organization, acting more in the interests of certain groups in the Labor party than in the interests of the entire Zionist movement which he is supposed to consider as the head of the organization department of the Zionist Executive.
A DIFFICULT TASK
It will be difficult to make good now what Mr. Locker has destroyed in the Zionist movement. Once the Revisionists have publicly announced their intention of organizing a separate Zionist party, after they had been refused a round table conference, it will be difficult to induce them to change their decision.
Prof. Brodetsky’s invitation to the Revisionists is nevertheless not a call into space. It is only a question whether the call will be supported by other members of the Executive, or whether Prof. Brodetsky will remain isolated in his efforts for peace, as has been the case hitherto.
SUPPORT ESSENTIAL
The efforts of Prof. Brodetsky to bring the Revisionists back to the Zionist Organization deserve the support of all elements interested in seeing the Jewish Agency united, with no rivals to compete in the political activities before the Colonial Office and the Mandates Commission. It deserves the support of the non-Zionist elements in the Jewish Agency who are more interested in the prestige of the Jewish Agency as a whole than in the internal friction within the Zionist ranks.
With the approaching Zionist Congress in August, the proper thing for Jewish leaders of the type of Prof. Brodetsky would be to see whether, after all, a compromise cannot be reached with the Revisionists and even with the Agudah, for united work in the cause of Palestine. Should such a compromise not be reached, the next Zionist Congress will be worth little, since nothing but chaos will develop in Jewish political representation before the outside world.
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.
