A call for the formation of a European Zionist Council to consolidate the activities of some 100,000 Zionists in Europe and to help hold the smaller Jewish communities of the continent in the mainstream of Zionism against the tendency to drift toward assimilation, was voiced here today on the second day of the third postwar European Zionist Conference.
In a keynote to the opening session last night, Dr. Nahum Goldmann, chairman of the Jewish Agency executive, called for a reorganization of the Zionist movement to include non-Zionist elements in providing for Israel all economic and political assistance. At the same time, he stressed, the Zionist movement must remain a fighting organization capable of pressing for pioneering work and immigration to Israel, obviously without non-Zionist aid.
He expressed the opinion that Jewish education was a prime need in the campaign to save Jewish youth. The threat to Jewish survival was never greater than today, he declared, even in the United States, The situation from the viewpoint of the youth is more serious than is commonly believed, he said.
At a press conference in connection with the parley, Dr. Goldmann said that political figures in all parties in America were critical of the policy of supplying the Arabs with arms, and insisted that peace in the Middle East would not come soon if the policy of arming the Arabs continued.
Zvi Herman, head of the Jewish Agency’s organization department, said today that the proposed European Zionist Council could represent, when properly organized and functioning, a force comparable to that of Israel within the Zionist movement. He outlined a lengthy program of aid to Israel, investment and tourism to Israel and Jewish education which the Council should undertake.
Speakers representing British Zionism, Belgian Zionism, the French movement and others variously made specific proposals on the Council and offered criticism of the work of the World Zionist Organization in the past. Barnett Janner of Britain suggested the formation of a Council large enough to give the smaller national movements adequate representation on it. A decision on the composition of the body is not expected until the early hours of tomorrow morning.
This is the third postwar European Zionist Conference, the first two having been held in Czechoslovakia in 1947 and in Paris in 1949. At present there are only five members on the 75-member World Zionist Executive who represent European Zionist movements.
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.
