Official Zionist circles here declared today that they are not aware of any plan of Dr. Weizmann which would involve asking President Roosevelt to authorize the creation of a Jewish division within the American army, as reported by a London correspondent of a New York newspaper. They denied that Dr. Weizmann was leaving for America today, as reported by the same correspondent.
“Dr. Weizmann is definitely not leaving today for the United States,” they emphatically stated. They added that as far as it is known, Dr. Weizmann has not seen Prime Minister Churchill since the latter’s return from America.
The possibility of establishing a Jewish force within the framework of the U.S. Army in the same form as it is proposed for in the British Army has been recently discussed in the Zionist press and in political circles here. These discussions, however, have never envisaged the segregation of Jews who are United States citizens. They dealt with Jews of neutral countries, particularly of South America, as well as with Palestinians, who were unable to join a Jewish force in Palestine.
Well-informed circles today pointed out to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the situation with regard to the plan for the formation of a Jewish army has remained practically unchanged. The officials of the British Colonial Office in Jerusalem and in Cairo, they said, are stubbornly persisting in their negative attitude towards this plan and it seems unlikely that their attitude will change, even under the impact of developments abroad.
Important changes in the Colonial Office, involving Lord Moyne, the Colonial Secretary, were predicted here today. These changes are expected in the next few days, and may take place even before Dr. Weizmann’s departure for the United States.
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.
