DAVID BEN GURION, PALESTINE LABORITE LEADER, ENVISIONS THE PROPOSED JEWISH STATE IN PALESTINE AS A STATE FOR THE JEWS OF THE WORLD WHO WISH TO GO TO PALESTINE. AND HE SEES FURTHER, TO THE DAY WHEN A STRONG JEWISH STATE CAN RE-UNITE WITH THE ARAB STATE.
THE ZIONIST CHIEFTAIN, WHO ARRIVED HERE ON THE BERENGARIA LAST WEEK FOR WHAT HE TERMED A BRIEF ” PRIVATE VISIT,” IN HIS CAPACITY AS CHAIRMAN OF THE JEWISH AGENCY EXECUTIVE WILL PLAY A LEADING ROLE IN THE FORTHCOMING NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT REGARDING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE.
MR. BEN GURION, ASKED ABOUT THE PROPOSED JEWISH STATE, SAID:
“IT WILL NOT BE A STATE OF THE JEWS IN PALESTINE, BUT FOR THE JEWS THE WORLD OVER WHO WISH TO GO TO PALESTINE. IF A JEW WISHES TO LEAVE HIS COUNTRY TO GO TO PALESTINE THE JEWISH STATE WILL MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO HELP HIM DO SO.”
CONTINUING, HE DECLARED:
” WE BELIEVE THAT PALESTINE WILL SOLVE THE JEWISH PROBLEM. THE JEWISH STATE IS ONLY THE BEGINNING. WITH THE CONSENT OF THE ARABS, WHEN WE BECOME STRONGER, PALESTINE WILL AGAIN BE REUNITED. WHEN THE JEWS ARE STRONGER AND HAVE THEIR OWN ECONOMY THEY WILL REACH AN AGREEMENT TO REUNITE WITH THE ARABS FOR THE BENEFIT OF JEWS AND ARABS ALIKE.”
A QUESTION ON THE POSSIBLE BASIS FOR THIS RE-UNITING THE LABOR ZIONIST LEADER WAVED AWAY, AS HE DID SEVERAL HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS ON THE FUTURE. HE HAD NO REPLY WHEN ASKED WHAT HE THOUGHT WOULD HAPPEN IF THE NON-ZIONISTS SHOULD REJECT A SCHEME FOR A JEWISH STATE ARISING FROM THE NEGOTIATIONS WITH BRITAIN, AND QUERIED ON THE PROSPECTS FOR APPROVAL OF PARTITION AT THE NEXT ZIONIST CONGRESS, HE SAID, ” WAIT AND SEE.”
THE NEGOTIATIONS WITH BRITAIN, HE SAID, WILL NOT BE DELAYED PENDING THE PROPOSED EFFORT FOR AN ARAB-JEWISH CONFERENCE, BUT WILL BE UNDERTAKEN SOON, PROBABLY WITHIN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS. THE DISCUSSIONS WILL BE CONDUCTED BY THE JEWISH AGENCY EXECUTIVE, WITH THE COLONIAL OFFICE REPRESENTING BRITAIN. THERE WILL BE ” TALKING ON BOTH SIDES” AND WHATEVER SCHEME ARISES WILL BE LAID FIRST BEFORE A SPECIAL ZIONIST CONGRESS AND THEN A SPECIAL SESSION OF THE JEWISH AGENCY COUNCIL.
HOPES FOR SHORT TRANSITION PERIOD
ASKED ABOUT THE ” APPRENTICESHIP” FOR THE TWO STATES SUGGESTED BY THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS MANDATES COMMISSION, MR. BEN GURION SAID:
” OF COURSE THERE MUST BE SOME TRANSITION PERIOD. WE WILL TRY, AND ALSO THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT, TO HAVE IT AS SHORT AS POSSIBLE.”
MR. BEN GURION, WHO HAD BEEN ONE OF THE LEADERS IN THE FIGHT ON THE ZIONIST CONGRESS FLOOR FOR NEGOTIATIONS WITH BRITAIN, WAS ASKED IF HE PERSONALLY FAVORED THE PARTITION OF PALESTINE.
” NO JEW CAN FAVOR PARTITION,” HE REPLIED.
” DO YOU WANT A JEWISH STATE IN ALL OF PALESTINE?”
” YES, OF COURSE, BUT AT THE PRESENT MOMENT I DON’T THINK THAT WE CAN get IT.”
” THEN WOULD YOU ACCEPT A STATE IN PART OF PALESTINE?”
” YES, WITH CERTAIN CONDITIONS.”
WHILE ON THE SUBJECT OF THE JEWISH STATE, MR. BEN. GURION WAS ASKED WHAT HE THOUGHT WOULD BE A FITTING NAME FOR THE JEWISH STATE. WHAT DID HE THINK OF ERETZ YISROEL. HE SMILED.
” NO, NOT ERETZ YISROEL,” HE SAID. ” ERETZ YISROEL IS THE WHOLE COUNTRY.”
REGARDING THE RECENT OUTBREAK OF VIOLENCE IN PALESTINE MR. BEN GURION WAS ASKED WHETHER HE THOUGHT IT INDICATED A NEW WAVE OF DISORDERS. ” YOU CAN NEVER TELL IN PALESTINE,” HE OBSERVED. ” ANYTHING MIGHT HAPPEN.” AT ANOTHER POINT IN THE INTERVIEW HE EXPRESSED THE BELIEF THAT THE PALESTINE GOVERNMENT, DESPITE THE CRITICISM OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION, HAD NOT CHANGED ITS POLICY.
THE SUBJECT OF THE NON-ZIONISTS AROSE. MR. BEN GURION DENIED REPORTS THAT HE HAD THREATENED TO RESIGN FROM THE JEWISH AGENCY EXECUTIVE IN PROTEST AGAINST INCREASING THE NON-ZIONIST REPRESENTATION ON THE EXECUTIVE. ASKED WHETHER HE THOUGHT PERMANENT HARMONY HAD BEEN ACHIEVED AT THE COUNCIL SESSION, HE SAID, ” I HOPE SO. WHY NOT?”
Mr. BEN GURION SAID HE WOULD RETURN TO PALESTINE AFTER HIS VISIT HERE.
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.
