Ben Gurion Favors Granting of Special Status in Israel to World Zionist Organization

Premier David Ben Gurion favors the granting of a special legal status in Israel to the World Zionist Organization providing that the World Zionist Congress, which opens here next week, pledges that it will cooperate to the fullest extent with the Israel Government, regardless of the composition of the World Zionist executive and the Israel Government–both of which are still to be named.

A report to this effect was presented to the Jewish Agency executive by Dr. Nahum Goldmann, chairman of the American section of the Agency, and Mrs. Rose Halprin, president of Hadassah, following talks which they had with Mr. Ben Gurion. A sub-committee was appointed today by the Agency executive to work out a formula for a resolution detailing the status of the World Zionist Organization in Israel, and to report back to the full Agency session.

After discussion the formulation of a future program for the World Zionist Organization, the Agency members decided to refer the problem to the various party conferences which will precede the Congress opening on August 14. Hayim Greenberg, American laborite, argued that there is no need to formulate a new program because the Basle Program–adopted at the first World Zionist Congress in 1897 and calling for the establishment of a Jewish state–will remain valid for several years longer. He insisted that the Zionist movement still has much to do in the fields of immigration and education.

JEWISH AGENCY RECOMMENDS DR. GOLDMANN FOR PRESIDENCY OF ZIONIST CONGRESS

The Jewish Agency executive today decided unanimously to recommend to the forthcoming Congress that Dr. Goldmann be named president of the Congress. When Dr. Goldmann was first approached to accept the nomination, he conditioned his acceptance upon the nomination being unanimous. This led to a recess in the Agency meeting while the various parties represented on the executive discussed the matter and agreed.

The Congress will be asked to allocate $2,800,000 annually for the promotion of the Chalutz movement and for other Zionist youth work, Eliahu Dobkin, member of the Jewish Agency executive, today told the world conference of Zionist youth groups now taking place here.

An appeal for greater efforts to raise more funds for the Youth Aliyah in order to facilitate larger immigration of Jewish youths to Israel was voiced at the conference by Moshe Kol, director of the Jewish Agency’s department for youth immigration. Mr. Kol said that 100,000 Jewish youths could be brought to Israel during the next two years if sufficient funds were available.