Despite the tense situation in Jerusalem, the Zionist Actions Committee opened its sessions there today to decide on the future of the world Zionist movement and to define the relationships between that movement and the state of Israel, The meeting, which is being attended by more than 150 delegates from all parts of the world, will remain in the Holy City for three days and will then transfer to this city. The Committee expects to be in session for about 10 days.
The American delegation, which has been insisting during the past few days that members of the Israeli Cabinet resign from the Jewish Agency executive, met here today and decided to press their demand at the meeting of the Actions Committee, supreme ruling body of the world Zionist movement between Congresses.
Drs. Abba Eillel Silver and Emanuel Neumann indicated at today’s meeting that they will resign from the American section of the Jewish Agency executive if their request is not complied with. On the other hand, members of the Israeli Cabinet, including Premier David Ben Gurion, have been asking that the Agency liquidate its offices in New York and London and retain only its Jerusalem headquarters. The American delegation insists that the Agency office in London remain intact in order to handle the work of immigration while the New York headquarters be made responsible for financial matters relating to Israel.
It is generally expected that most Committee members will back the Americans when the issue is taken to a vote. Meanwhile, many of the American delegates have been meeting with Finance Minister Eliezer Kaplan for several days concerning the mobilization of funds in the United States for Israel.
Interest centered here today on news from Stockholm reporting that the U.N. mediator, Count Folke Bernadotte, who is now attending a Red Cross meeting in that city, may inform the Security Council that he is not inclined to continue in his role as Palestine mediator and that he plans to turn the entire Palestine problem back to the United Nations. The report quoted Bernadotte as stating that he does not believe the Jews and Arabs in Palestine can establish a basis for reaching a permanent peace.
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.
