Zionist Congresses During British Mandate
(1923 - 1946)
Article Four of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine called
for the creation of a Jewish Agency,
"to secure the cooperation of all Jews who are willing to
assist in the establishment of the Jewish National Home."
The proposal to include non-Zionists in the Jewish Agency was a matter
which aroused considerable opposition and was defeated at this time.
(Weizmann however, succeeded in implementing this program some six
years later).
The Congress met at a time of significant Jewish immigration to Palestine, mainly from Poland. Those in sympathy
with the building of the Jewish National Home by private enterprise saw in this
wave of immigration the realization of their hopes, while the workers' movement
saw it as a threat to their constructive socialist efforts.
The Revisionists, led by Ze'ev Jabotinsky attended their first Congress and
demanded a more activist policy for the Zionist movement. They also opposed
the inclusion of non-Zionists within the Jewish Agency.
The Congress met under the cloud of a growing economic crisis in Palestine
which had already left many unemployed and impoverished. This was to be the
year when more Jewish emigrants left the country than arrived at its shores (the
first and only year that this was to occur in the pre-State period). It was natural
that the Congress should spend much of its time dealing with this issue. Weizmann and Ruppin delivered speeches on how to alleviate the crisis.
Discussion also continued on the question of expanding the Jewish Agency.
Eulogies were delivered on Ahad Ha'am, the ideological leader of the
cultural Zionists who had himself only attended the first Congress.
In the elections to the position of President of the WZO, Weizmann was
again re-elected. Sokolow, too, was re-elected to the position of President of
the Executive, while Henrietta Szold became the first woman to be elected to the Zionist Executive.
Unlike its predecessor, the Sixteenth Congress met in an atmosphere
of optimism concerning economic developments in Palestine. Immigration
was up and economic recovery - unlike in the USA and Europe - was underway.
The Congress approved the enlargement of the Jewish Agency -
much to the chagrin of a vocal minority dominated by the Revisionists.
This decision ended a debate that had lasted seven years. Weizmann and Sokolow were elected respectively to the positions of President of the WZO and the Executive.
Only a few days after the Sixteenth Congress had closed, riots had broken out in Palestine. The Shaw Commission reported unfavorably on Zionist
activity in Palestine as did Hope-Simpson, who
had been sent to Palestine shortly thereafter. Their recommendations were adopted
by Lord Passfield in the White Paper bearing his
name. The Zionist movement was in uproar and Weizmann tendered
his resignation as President of the organization. However, following
negotiations with the minority government of Ramsay MacDonald, many of the negative
clauses were retracted.
During the Congress, a large number of delegates protested Weizmann's policy towards the British, in particular his commitment
to maximum cooperation with the Mandate authority. The Revisionists were not alone in opposing Weizmann, although they were the most
demonstrative. Jabotinsky, the undisputed leader of this stream in Zionism, called on
the organization to adopt a resolution stating that Zionism's end goals
were the establishment of a Jewish majority and Jewish State in Palestine
on both sides of the Jordan river. When the Congress rejected this plea, Jabotinsky tore up his delegate card and shouted, “This is not a Zionist congress!”
This was to be a further landmark on the road to Revisionist secession
from the Zionist organization. Weizmann did not withdraw his resignation
and Sokolow was elected in his stead. Given the increased Labor representation
in the Executive, Weizmann's pro-British orientation was to continue.
Congress met under the impact of three major developments:
- the advent of the Nazis to power in Germany;
- an inflationary economy in Palestine, and finally:
- the assassination of the Labor leader and head of the Jewish Agency
Political Department, Chaim Arlosoroff.
Mutual recriminations between the Labor movement - united in Palestine
as Mapai in 1930 - and the Revisionists reached new heights. A committee
of inquiry was established to investigate the murder.
This was the first Congress where the Labor movement outnumbered the supporters of General Zionism.
Once again, the Labor faction was the largest at Congress.
A broad coalition was brought together, enabling the return of Weizmann to the position of Presidency. Sokolow was chosen as Honorary President of the WZO and the Jewish Agency, but died the following year.
Congress discussed various issues, many of which centered around the
rescue of German Jewry and their immigration to Palestine. In this context, Henrietta Szold outlined the work of Youth Aliyah. David Ben-Gurion was elected to the Executive of the Jewish Agency and was to play an increasingly important role in its work. The Revisionists did not participate in the Congress following their decision to secede and establish their own New Zionist Organization.
Following the outbreak of the Arab Revolt in Palestine during the Spring of 1936, the British Government dispatched a Royal Commission to investigate a possible
solution to the Arab-Zionist conflict. The central recommendation of the Peel Commission (known after its chairperson)
was the partition of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state. Congress
was called upon to determine the position of the Zionist movement towards this scheme.
The crisis that emerged within the movement was comparable to that
which had rocked the organization during the days of the so-called Uganda controversy. Zionist factions were divided not only between but also among themselves.
For example:
- within Mapai (Labor) Ben-Gurion supported the proposal whilst Berl
Katznelson and Yitzhak Tabenkin opposed it.
- The opposition led by Menachem Ussishkin (the Revisionists had seceded from the WZO), argued that the proposed Jewish State
was too small to absorb the potential Jewish immigration, could not be
defended from Arab attack and excluded Zion (Jerusalem).
- Against them, Weizmann andBen-Gurion argued that a Jewish
State afforded free immigration and sovereignty. In these uncertain times
they doubted that the British would improve upon their offer. With European
Jewry in crisis an immediate solution was necessary. If the Jewish State were to
be attacked, Ben-Gurion argued, the Zionist movement would be within its rights
to claim an adjustment to its borders.
In the event, the Congress decided to reject the specific borders recommended
by the Peel Commission but empowered its executive to negotiate a more favorable
plan for a Jewish State in Palestine.
Congress met only days before the outbreak of the Second World War. Since
the last Congress, Britain had staged a withdrawal from the Partition plan that had
been initially proposed by the Peel Commission: the Woodhead Commission had called the scheme impractical:
the St. James conference in London
did not bridge the gulf between the parties; and Britain's war interests led
the Prime Minister to the conclusion that
“if we must offend one side, let us offend the Jews
rather than the Arabs.”
In May 1939, the White Paper had been published
severely curtailing immigration and giving a pledge to create an independent Palestine state.
Congress condemned British policy in the strongest possible terms and a number
of delegates praised the activities of organizations involved in illegal immigration. Given
the climate of impending war, the outgoing executive was requested to remain
in office. Weizmann concluded Congress proceedings with the statement,
“I have no prayer
but this: that we will all meet again alive.”
The Congress met after the conclusion of the Second World War and the Holocaust, in which most of European Jewry had been massacred.
- The major human resource for the Zionist movement had been destroyed.
- The Jewish community in Palestine had volunteered in large numbers for the
British war effort but had been able to do little to bring sustenance to their brethren behind enemy lines.
- The British had only consented to the establishment of the Jewish Brigade in October 1944 and therefore this unit could play only a limited role.
- The Yishuv had also tried unsuccessfully to pressurize the British authorities
into repealing the White Paper.
Initially, the policy of violent confrontation had been rejected by the vast
majority of the Yishuv but, by the summer of 1945, the
various armed groups were coordinating their efforts against the Mandate.
This led to increased tension with the British who, in July
1946, incarcerated the leaders of the Yishuv at Latrun.
Congress met following the publication of the Morrison-Grady
report which had recommended the cantonization of Palestine into four districts and
called for a Jewish-Arab conference to be held in London.
Weizmann, still President of the
WZO, called on the delegates to approve the political
platform of the Zionist movement as passed at conferences at the Biltmore hotel in New
York during May 1942 and in London, 1945. The central passage of this program was the call that
“Palestine be established as a Jewish Commonwealth integrated in the structure of the democratic world.”
Congress voted overwhelmingly in favor of the program but rejected Weizmann's call for
participation in the London conference. Weizmann resigned his position as President of the
WZO, which then remained vacant until 1956.
Sources: The Pedagogic
Center, The Department for Jewish Zionist Education, The Jewish Agency for
Israel, (c) 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, Director: Dr. Motti Friedman, Webmaster:
Esther Carciente |