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World Zionist Congress Will Be Held in Israel Next Summer: No Merger of Zionist Funds

August 31, 1948
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The forthcoming World Zionist Congress will be held in Israel during the month of June, 1949, it was learned here today, while the Zionist Actions Committee, which is to decide the time and place of the Congress, was holding its final meetings.

A resolution that all Zionist funds should be merged was defeated today by the budgetary committee of the Actions Committee. Instead it was agreed to continue Zionist fund-raising along the same lines as are?now in existence in the United States. The resolution suggesting the merger of funds was opposed by Eliezer Kaplan, Minister of Finance in the Israeli government.

The basic issue today still remains the question of whether members of the Israeli Government should also remain members of the executive of the world Zionist Organization and of the Jewish Agency. Efforts to secure a compromise on this issue continued throughout the day. However, the American delegation rejected a proposal under which Premier David Ben Gurion would leave the World Zionist executive while the other members of the Israeli Cabinet would remain on the executive without port-folios.

As the discussion developed, it became obvious that the General Zionist, the Mizrachi, the United labor Party; the Revisionists and the Aliya Hadasha favored the American idea that Israeli Ministers should not be members of the executive of the World Zionist Organization and of the Jewish Agency. The Jewish Labor Party, Mapai, was the only group which argued in favor of having the members of the Cabinet remain on the executive. However, the leaders of the Mapai declared that they are ready to abide by a decision of the majority. (As the Bulletin went to press no report of a final vote had been received.)

An appeal to the Israeli Government to contribute to a “considerable” extent to the budget of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was made today by Professor Selig Brodetsky, addressing the budget committee of the Actions Committee. He estimated that within ten years the annual budget of the University will be $4,000,000. Dr. Werner Senator, treasurer of the University, announced that a law faculty will shortly be opened at the University.

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