An appeal for “real cooperation” of all responsible elements in Israel and abroad in order to help the consolidation, progress and expansion of the Jewish state was made here today by Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett addressing the four-day national conference of the Mapai, Israel’s Labor Party.
Mr. Sharett, himself a leader of the party, reviewed for two hours the history of the Mapai. He recounted numerous successes as well as failures of the party in the earlier stages of its activity some 20 years ago and emphasized the persistency with which the Mapai had always fought for unrestricted immigration to the Jewish homeland.
Touching upon the split in the ranks of the party, which later led to the formation of the left-wing United Workers Party — known as Mapam — Mr. Sharett said that members of the dissenting faction have since their withdrawal from the Mapai, “retired themselves from the sphere of responsible initiative, drying the source of their spiritual inspiration.”
The Israel Foreign Minister said that the Mapai will preserve “as the pupil of its eye” the principle of “true and free democracy,” which it has been advocating since its inception. This kind of democracy, he explained, is based on the elementary principles of freedom of the individual and of the public within the framework of the state of Israel.
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.