Z.O.A. Urges Reforms in World Zionist Movement; Instructs Delegates

The national executive council of the Zionist Organization of America called today for “thorough-going reforms” and alleged the existence of “partisan considerations in connection with important activities of the World Zionist Organization.” The Council adopted a resolution instructing the ZOA representatives on the World Zionist Actions Committee–which is meeting in Jerusalem on July 11–to press for such reforms to the end that “the central activities of the Zionist movement as a whole shall be conducted on a non-partisan basis and free of party considerations.”

The ZOA executive council also adopted a resolution reaffirming its position with respect to the proposed reorganization of the American Zionist Council as the basis of territorial federation in the United States. “We favor the gradual transfer to the Council from the Jewish Agency of those general tasks and functions which properly lie in the province of American Zionism,” the resolution said. “Taking note of the continuing negotiations among all American Zionist bodies on this question, in which the ZOA has consistently upheld the integrity of existing Zionist organizations, we reassert our insistence on adequate scope and freedom of action for the legitimate activities of these organizations, so that their further growth will be encouraged.

“Moreover, we hold that no effort to alter the present composition of the Council should be undertaken prior to the next World Zionist Congress and that the existing recognized Zionist organizations shall be accorded representation in the Council based on the strength of their representation in the last three Zionist Congresses. Other organizations seeking affiliation and qualifying under such rules as may be established, may in due course be accorded fraternal participation in the Council,” the resolution stated.

Another resolution dealt with middle class immigration to Israel. It read: “Taking note of the growing emphasis on the encouragement of middle class immigration and settlement in Israel, and profoundly aware of its vital importance for the growth and development of the Israeli economy, we call upon our representatives on the Actions Committee to seek the inclusion of more adequate provisions in the budget of the Jewish Agency for the fostering of middle class immigration and settlement.”

Addressing the ZOA council, Dr. Emanuel Neumann, president of the ZOA, termed the delivery of the three Soviet submarines to Egypt “an ominous development.” He warned that “this latest manifestation of the Soviet Union’s notorious technique of penetration into the Middle East by fomenting new tensions and strife through its ally, Gamal Abdel Nasser, could set off yet another chain reaction in that region.” He asserted that “obviously, Israel cannot be indifferent to the implications of the shipment of these submarines by a hostile power to a sworn enemy whose major purpose remains Israel’s extinction.”