Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 29

10. The Executive also submitted to the General Council a. number of proposals whose aim was to secure, within the framework of the Congress resolutions in force, a stricter compliance with the disciplinary regulations and the safeguarding of the authority of the Organisation on the part of members and functionaries of the Organisation. In the course of the proceedings of the General Council the Executive decided to withdraw these proposals, but accepted an instruction from the General; Council to submit to the Congress measures that shall embraceadequate sanctions against breaches of discipline. 10. Parties. A. General Zionists. I.—World Union of General Zionists. 1. In July, 1931, on the occasion of the 17th Congress,, representatives of Zionist Federations, " united in the will to combine all General Zionists together," founded the World Union of General Zionists, which, according to its draft constitution (par. 1) adopted there, was regarded as a Union of Federations and expressly rejected the character of a Separate Union (par. 4). The Executive took note on October 26th, 1931, of the creation of the World Union as a voluntary Joint Council of Zionist Federations and requested the World Union, true to its draft constitution, to adapt this character to the laws of the Zionist Organisation. The Executive of the World Union promised to comply with this request, but never referred to this matter again.. 2. In August, 1934, the World Union held a Conference at Cracow, the resolutions of which, without entering into the demands, of the Executive, fundamentally changed the character of the World Union. By adopting a rigid and detailed party programme and accepting the principle of the discipline of its members towards the World Union, the World Union silently evolved from a voluntary joint council into something between a parliamentary group and a non-recognised Separate Union based upon individual membership, with its own programme and party discipline. But while a Separate Union recruits its members by way of voluntary adherents, the decisions of the Cracow Conference seemed to be based upon the pre-supposition that the World Union is justified in fundamentally changing its character and declaring the members, of the Zionist Federations affiliated to it as automatically members, of this Organisation bound by a party programme and party discipline. Apart from the fact that by introducing a party programme the unity of General Zionism, which the World Union, with the approval of the Executive, adopted as its aim, was threatened, the result of these resolutions, which aimed indirectly at imposing the character of obligatory Separate Unions upon the Federations, without expressly altering their status, was to import: mischievous confusion into the Zionist ranks. 29