SESSION OF THE ZIONIST GENERAL COUNCIL JERUSALEM 22-24 JUNE, 1977 Addresses, Debates, Resolutions Published by the ORGANIZATION AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT OF THE ZIONIST EXECUTIVE JERUSALEM 3Ht AMERICAN JEWISH COMMUTE* ilaustein Library SESSION OF THE ZIONIST GENERAL COUNCIL JERUSALEM 22-24 JUNE, 1977 Addresses, Debates, Resolutions Published by the ORGANIZATION AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT OF THE ZIONIST EXECUTIVE JERUSALEM World Zionist Organization Printed under the supervision of the Publishing Department of the Jewish Agency by "Ahva" Press, Jerusalem Printed in Israel The Zionist General Council convened for its fifth session after the 28th Zionist Congress at Binyanei Ha'ooma in Jerusalem, on June 22-24, 1977. An opening address was delivered by the Chairman of the Zionist General Council, Mr. Itzhak Navon. The main themes of the deliberations of the session were: "Towards the 29th Zionist Congress5'; "The Membership Drive and Congress Elections"; "The Zionist Idea Today and its Realization". The debate on the first two subjects began following the addresses of the Chairman of the Zionist Executive, Mr. Josef Almogi, and member of the Executive, Mr. Avraham Schenker, who also replied to the discussion. The deliberations on the Zionist Idea Today were opened by Mr. Shlomo Derech, who served as Chairman of the Ideological Committee of the World Zionist Organization. The Council also heard an address by the Prime Minister, Mr. Menahem Begin. At a special meeting, the World Union of Synagogues (The Conservative Movement) was admitted as a member of the World Zionist Organization. A festive program was devoted to the tenth anniversary of the re- unification of Jerusalem. The main addresses delivered at the session are published in full, whereas the speeches, of the participants in the deliberations are given in a summarized form. The report also includes the resolutions adopted at the session as well as a list of participants and a list of the members of the committees. Organization and Information Department TABLE OF CONTENTS FIRST MEETING Opening Address by Itzhak Navon, Chairman of the Zionist General Council 7 Towards the 29th Zionist Congress — Josef Almogi, Chairman of the Executive 11 Membership Drive and Congress Elections — Avraham Schenker, Head of Organization and information De- portaent 16 Debate on the Addresses by J. Almogi and A. Schenker 23 A. Pollack —23; M. Kagaa —24; N. Eilati —26 SECOND MEETING Election of Member to the Zionist General Council . 27 Approval of Composition of Committees 27 Election of Member to the Executive 27 K. Sultanik —27; J. Torczyner —28; K. Sultanik —28; R. Matzkin —28 Continuation of the Debate on the Addresses by J. Almogi and A. Schenker 28 J. Orfus — 28 Changes in :the Representation of the Sephardi Federation and Maccabi on the Governing Bodies of the WZO 30 R. Matzkin—30; A. Schenker —31; S. L. Shipton — 32; R. Matzkin — 32; A. Schenker — 32 Continuation of the Debate 33 A. Super — 33; R. Matzkin — 34; A. Werber—34; A. Super — 35; R. Matzkin —35; A. Kotlowitz — 35; A. Tory —38; Ch. Stein —40; R. Jacobson — 40; S. Patrich —41; C. Balinsky — 41; Y. Azrieli — 43; U. Gordon — 44; A. Reiss — 46; S. Lehman-Wilzig — 47; Th. Friedman —49; G. Dijan — 50; A. Werber —51; S. Dresner —52 Reply to the Debate by J. Almogi . 53 Reply to the Debate by A. Schenker . 55 TIRD MEETING Admission of the World Council of Synagogues (Con- servative Movement) to the WZO ........ 59 J. Almogi — 59 Congratulations to the World Council of Synagogues . 60 J. Almogi — 60; I. Navon — 61; M. Waxman —62; M. Kirshblum — 67; R. Hirsch —69; S. Levenberg —71 FOURTH MEETING The Zionist Idea Today and its Realization 72 Opening Remarks by Shlomo Derech ....... 72 Debate on the Zionist Idea Today and its Realization . 77 E. Rackman — 77; M. Syrkn — 82; R. Halprin — 84; L. I. Rabinowitz — 86; H. Schacter — 87; I. Peled —89; R. Mahler ׳.D ;י—•J. Tsur —91; R. Isaacson —93; A. Levin .95 ;90 — Bar-Nir —96; S. Friedrich —98; J. Shapiro —99; D. Marmur —100; A. Zimuki — 101 Words of Welcome to the Prime Minister — I. Navon . .103 Address by the Prime Minister Menahem Begin . .103 FIFTH MEETING Proposals of the Committee on Immigration and Ab- 116 ׳...... sorption Proposals of the Committee on Preparations for the , Congress 122 Proposals of the Committee on Budget, Finance and Funds 126 Proposals of the Committee on Political Matters and Information .127 Closing Address by the Chairman of the Executive Josef Almogi . 128 Concluding Remarks and Closing Speech by the Chairman of the Zionist General Council Itzhak Navon . .130 . Resolutions 133 List of Participants 146 Committees of the Zionist General Council 150 FIRST MEETING Wednesday, June 22, 1977, in the morning Chairman: ITZHAK NAVON OPENING ADDRESS BY MR. ITZHAK NAVON (Chairman of the Zionist General Council) I have the honour of opening this session of the Zionist General Council, which will be the last one in the present format befoie the coming Zionist Congress. We meet at a time when Israel has gone through a stormy and interest- ing period, which has been happy or disappointing, depending on the individual speaker's point of view. There has been a great transformation in Israel's political map. A party which had been in opposition for many years is now the governing party. Let us wish the new government every success in the tasks which it has undertaken and in the trials which it will be facing. Another party, which had been the major force in all govern- ments for many years, has now shifted to the parliamentary opposition. This is a revolution by any standard. And yesterday we had another revolution just because there was no revolution. It has now become clear that the electorate in Israel makes a clear distinction between voting for the Knesset and voting for the Histadrut. Whatever we may all think about the election results yesterday and on May 17th, I know we are all united in feeling that we have established a regime of active democracy in Israel. This is a source of deep pride and satisfaction to all of us. With regard to the government, with which the Zionist Movement has much more contact than with other bodies (local government or Histadrut) and in spite of possible differences, there still are many areas where the rule is unanimity in thought and solidarity in action. More than 90 percent of all members of the Knesset share a consensus on a number of principles. A) They are Zionist parties, in the fullest sense of the term, and in particular, with regard to ties with the Jewish people in the Diaspora and the Zionist Movement all over the world. These parties also perform their share of Zionist activity. 7 FIRST MEETING B) On the political level, in matters of foreign affairs and defence, these parties do not accept the pre-1967 borders because they cannot provide security for the State of Israel, and any attempt to offer us, or to coerce us into accepting a return to these borders, will therefore encounter the active opposition of over 90 % of all Knesset members. The same percentage will unite in objecting to the creation of a Palestinian State in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. While every party may have their own grounds for these beliefs, there is a unifying common denominator. C) All these parties consider themselves part of the free, democratic world with all the political and ideological consequences that flow from this. There are no differences today among various parties as existed in the early fifties, concerning the need to strengthen our ties with the free countries of the West, and particularly with the United States. The debate in the early fifties, about neutrality between the major power blocs, is no longer relevant, not only for practical reasons but also for reasons of ideology. As I said, all of these parties also share the common goal of strengthening the links between the Jewish people and the Zionist Movement. We also share the same aspirations for the prosperity of the State of Israel, the development of this country, the deepening of historical Jewish and Zionist consciousness, and for success of the struggle to secure Jewish immigration from countries of distress. We also share the desire to increase aliyah from the free world, to strengthen Jewish education in the Diaspora and to create a society based on social justice. No doubt, we shall be facing tough political struggles in the near future. The contradictory, worrisome and disturbing declarations showered upon us from the United States even before the elections, did not augur well for the future, and regardless of the election results we would have been compelled to mobilize the Zionist Movement in the Diaspora, to fight for the objectives which all of us share unanimously. It is still impossible to say to what extent these trials will grow more difficult, but there can be no doubt that the coming weeks and months will require an intensified effort on the part of each and every Zionist in the Diaspora who is capable of contributing to political and information work. I assume that in the Committee for Political Affairs and Information of this Zionist General Council, there will be ample opportunity to deal with the various aspects of the situation before and after the elections, and this will, indeed, be an appropriate time for.such a discussion. 8 I. NAVON What else will we be discussing at this session? We have two major areas of interest. One relates to the preparations for the Zionist Congress due to take place in February 1978, and the Membership Drive which must be organized and intensified in anticipation of the elections.