Biltmore Conference
Encyclopedia
The Biltmore Conference, also known by its resolution as the Biltmore Program, was a fundamental departure from traditional Zionist policy with its demand "that Palestine be established as a Jewish Commonwealth." The meeting was held in New York City
at the prestigious Biltmore Hotel
from May 6 to May 11, 1942 with 600 delegates and Zionist leaders from 18 countries attending.
Prior to Biltmore, official Zionism steadfastly refused to formulate the ultimate aim of the movement preferring instead to concentrate on the practical task of building the Jewish National Home. The Biltmore Program became the official Zionist stand on the ultimate aim of the movement. The major shift at Biltmore was prompted by intense common opposition to the British White Paper of 1939
, which interpreted the terms of the Mandate in a way that would freeze "the Jewish community to a permanent minority status," and the then-current war negative situation. It was also prompted by the realization that America would play a larger part in fulfillment of Zionist designs after the war.
Official Zionism’s firm, unequivocal stand did not please every one, however. The pro-British Chaim Weizmann
had bristled at them and bi-nationalists such as Henrietta Szold
and Judah L. Magnes rejected them and broke off to establish their own party, Ichud (Unification), that advocated an Arab – Jewish Federation. Opposition to the Biltmore Program also lead to the founding of the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism
Various Zionist
and non-Zionist Jewish organizations were represented in the American Emergency Committee of Zionist Affairs, which called an "Extraordinary Zionist Conference" as a substitute for the full (22nd) Zionist Congress which had been cancelled due to World War II
. Attendees included Chaim Weizmann
, as President of the World Zionist Organization
, David Ben-Gurion
as Chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive, and Nahum Goldmann
as a member of the Executive of the Zionist Organization of America
. The four main organisations of American Jewry represented were: the Zionist Organization of America, Hadassah
, Mizrahi
, and Poale Zion
. Among the American organizers was Reform Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver
.
. The full text of the program reads as follows:
After approval by the Zionist General Council
in Palestine, the Biltmore Program was adopted as the platform of the World Zionist Organization.
's White Paper
of 1922) that there should be a "Jewish National Home" in Palestine. It was also significant because it was a first joint statement by Zionist and non-Zionist Jewish groups on Palestine, and committed such non-Zionist groups to the idea of a Jewish Commonwealth in all of Palestine. According to Ami Isseroff, the Program was "a crucial step in the development of the Zionist movement, which increasingly saw itself as opposed to Britain rather than a collaborator of Britain, and it determined that henceforth Ben-Gurion and the Zionist Executive in Palestine, rather than Weizmann would lead the Zionist movement and determine policy toward the British."
Although it spoke of the Jewish people for "the economic, agricultural and national development of the Arab peoples and states", the Biltmore Program was implicitly a rejection of the proposal for a binational solution
to the question of Arab-Jewish co-existence in Palestine. Hashomer Hatzair
, a socialist-Zionist group, accordingly voted against the program.
The estimates for the destruction of European Jewry grew throughout 1942 and 1943. Chaim Weizmann urged a re-evaluation of the Biltmore program in June 1943. Chaim Weizmann’s earlier estimate of 25% destruction declared at the Biltmore conference now seemed wildly optimistic. Rabbi Meyer Berlin leader of the Mizrahi Zionist party disagreed arguing that no one could know how many Jews would survive and how many would die.
At the American Jewish Conference
of 29 August 1943 the adoption of the Biltmore program was challenged by Joseph Proskauer and Robert Goldman, they argued that the immediate problem was the rescue effort, not the establishment of a Jewish commonwealth. Goldman felt the Biltmore program was unduly weighted in favour of the establishment of a Jewish commonwealth and that the focus on this as a priority would hamper the efforts to rescue the European Jewry.
While Abba Silver and Emanuel Neumann put forwards that the establishment of a Jewish commonwealth should be the primary aim.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at the prestigious Biltmore Hotel
New York Biltmore Hotel
The New York Biltmore Hotel was a luxury hotel in New York City. It was one of three palatial hotels built as part of the Terminal City development...
from May 6 to May 11, 1942 with 600 delegates and Zionist leaders from 18 countries attending.
Prior to Biltmore, official Zionism steadfastly refused to formulate the ultimate aim of the movement preferring instead to concentrate on the practical task of building the Jewish National Home. The Biltmore Program became the official Zionist stand on the ultimate aim of the movement. The major shift at Biltmore was prompted by intense common opposition to the British White Paper of 1939
White Paper of 1939
The White Paper of 1939, also known as the MacDonald White Paper after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary who presided over it, was a policy paper issued by the British government under Neville Chamberlain in which the idea of partitioning the Mandate for Palestine, as recommended in...
, which interpreted the terms of the Mandate in a way that would freeze "the Jewish community to a permanent minority status," and the then-current war negative situation. It was also prompted by the realization that America would play a larger part in fulfillment of Zionist designs after the war.
Official Zionism’s firm, unequivocal stand did not please every one, however. The pro-British Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
had bristled at them and bi-nationalists such as Henrietta Szold
Henrietta Szold
Henrietta Szold was a U.S. Jewish Zionist leader and founder of the Hadassah Women's Organization. In 1942, she co-founded Ihud, a political party in Mandate Palestine dedicated to a binational solution.-Biography:...
and Judah L. Magnes rejected them and broke off to establish their own party, Ichud (Unification), that advocated an Arab – Jewish Federation. Opposition to the Biltmore Program also lead to the founding of the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism
American Council for Judaism
The American Council for Judaism is an organization of American Jews committed to the proposition that Jews are not a nationality but merely a religious group, adhering to the original stated principles of Reform Judaism, as articulated in the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform.The ACJ was founded in June...
Various Zionist
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
and non-Zionist Jewish organizations were represented in the American Emergency Committee of Zionist Affairs, which called an "Extraordinary Zionist Conference" as a substitute for the full (22nd) Zionist Congress which had been cancelled due to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Attendees included Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
, as President of the World Zionist Organization
World Zionist Organization
The World Zionist Organization , or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization , or ZO, in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress, held from August 29 to August 31 in Basel, Switzerland...
, David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion
' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...
as Chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive, and Nahum Goldmann
Nahum Goldmann
Nahum Goldmann was a leading Zionist and the founder and longtime president of the World Jewish Congress.-Biography:...
as a member of the Executive of the Zionist Organization of America
Zionist Organization of America
The Zionist Organization of America , founded in 1897, was one of the first official Zionist organizations in the United States, and, especially early in the 20th century, the primary representative of Jewish Americans to the World Zionist Organization, espousing primarily Political Zionism.Today,...
. The four main organisations of American Jewry represented were: the Zionist Organization of America, Hadassah
Hadassah
Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America is an American Jewish volunteer women's organization. Founded in 1912 by Henrietta Szold, it is one of the largest international Jewish organizations, with around...
, Mizrahi
Religious Zionists of America
The Religious Zionists of America is an American based organization that serves as the official body for those, mostly Modern Orthodox Jews who identify with Religious Zionism and support the goals of the general Mizrachi movement in America, Europe and Israel.Most rabbis...
, and Poale Zion
Poale Zion
Poale Zion was a Movement of Marxist Zionist Jewish workers circles founded in various cities of the Russian Empire about the turn of the century after the Bund rejected Zionism in 1901.-Formation and early years:Poale Zion parties and organisations were started across the Jewish diaspora in the...
. Among the American organizers was Reform Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver
Abba Hillel Silver
Abba Hillel Silver was a U.S. Rabbi and Zionist leader. He was a key figure in the mobilization of American support for the founding of the State of Israel.-Biography:...
.
Declaration
The joint statement issued at the end of the session was known as the Biltmore Program. The program asked for unrestricted Jewish immigration to PalestinePalestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. The full text of the program reads as follows:
- 1. American Zionists assembled in this Extraordinary Conference reaffirm their unequivocal devotion to the cause of democratic freedom and international justice to which the people of the United States, allied with the other United Nations, have dedicated themselves, and give expression to their faith in the ultimate victory of humanity and justice over lawlessness and brute force.
- 2. This Conference offers a message of hope and encouragement to their fellow Jews in the Ghettos and concentration camps of Hitler-dominated Europe and prays that their hour of liberation may not be far distant.
- 3. The Conference sends its warmest greetings to the Jewish Agency Executive in Jerusalem, to the Va`ad Leumi, and to the whole Yishuv in Palestine, and expresses its profound admiration for their steadfastness and achievements in the face of peril and great difficulties ...
- 4. In our generation, and in particular in the course of the past twenty years, the Jewish people have awakened and transformed their ancient homeland; from 50,000 at the end of the last war their numbers have increased to more than 500,000. They have made the waste places to bear fruit and the desert to blossom. Their pioneering achievements in agriculture and in industry, embodying new patterns of cooperative endeavour, have written a notable page in the history of colonization.
- 5. In the new values thus created, their Arab neighbours in Palestine have shared. The Jewish people in its own work of national redemption welcomes the economic, agricultural and national development of the Arab peoples and states. The Conference reaffirms the stand previously adopted at Congresses of the World Zionist Organization, expressing the readiness and the desire of the Jewish people for full cooperation with their Arab neighbours.
- 6. The Conference calls for the fulfillment of the original purpose of the Balfour Declaration and the Mandate which recognizing the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine' was to afford them the opportunity, as stated by President Wilson, to found there a Jewish Commonwealth. The Conference affirms its unalterable rejection of the White Paper of May 1939 and denies its moral or legal validity. The White Paper seeks to limit, and in fact to nullify Jewish rights to immigration and settlement in Palestine, and, as stated by Mr. Winston Churchill in the House of Commons in May 1939, constitutes `a breach and repudiation of the Balfour Declaration'. The policy of the White Paper is cruel and indefensible in its denial of sanctuary to Jews fleeing from Nazi persecution; and at a time when Palestine has become a focal point in the war front of the United Nations, and Palestine Jewry must provide all available manpower for farm and factory and camp, it is in direct conflict with the interests of the allied war effort.
- 7. In the struggle against the forces of aggression and tyranny, of which Jews were the earliest victims, and which now menace the Jewish National Home, recognition must be given to the right of the Jews of Palestine to play their full part in the war effort and in the defence of their country, through a Jewish military force fighting under its own flag and under the high command of the United Nations.
- 8. The Conference declares that the new world order that will follow victory cannot be established on foundations of peace, justice and equality, unless the problem of Jewish homelessness is finally solved. The Conference urges that the gates of Palestine be opened; that the Jewish Agency be vested with control of immigration into Palestine and with the necessary authority for upbuilding the country, including the development of its unoccupied and uncultivated lands; and that Palestine be established as a Jewish Commonwealth integrated in the structure of the new democratic world.
- Then and only then will the age old wrong to the Jewish people be righted..
After approval by the Zionist General Council
Zionist General Council
Zionist General Council is the supreme institution of the Zionist movement.The ZGC was established in 1921 following a decision reached at the 11th World Zionist Congress. It is composed of members elected at the World Zionist Congress and representatives of Zionist organizations. The council...
in Palestine, the Biltmore Program was adopted as the platform of the World Zionist Organization.
Jewish Commonwealth
The significance of the Program to a Jewish Commonwealth was in stepping beyond the terms of the Balfour Declaration (which had been reaffirmed as British policy by Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
's White Paper
White paper
A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...
of 1922) that there should be a "Jewish National Home" in Palestine. It was also significant because it was a first joint statement by Zionist and non-Zionist Jewish groups on Palestine, and committed such non-Zionist groups to the idea of a Jewish Commonwealth in all of Palestine. According to Ami Isseroff, the Program was "a crucial step in the development of the Zionist movement, which increasingly saw itself as opposed to Britain rather than a collaborator of Britain, and it determined that henceforth Ben-Gurion and the Zionist Executive in Palestine, rather than Weizmann would lead the Zionist movement and determine policy toward the British."
Although it spoke of the Jewish people for "the economic, agricultural and national development of the Arab peoples and states", the Biltmore Program was implicitly a rejection of the proposal for a binational solution
Binational solution
The one-state solution and the similar binational solution are proposed approaches to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Proponents of a binational solution to the conflict advocate either a single state in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, or a single state in Israel and the West...
to the question of Arab-Jewish co-existence in Palestine. Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair is a Socialist–Zionist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was also the name of the group's political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British Mandate of Palestine...
, a socialist-Zionist group, accordingly voted against the program.
The estimates for the destruction of European Jewry grew throughout 1942 and 1943. Chaim Weizmann urged a re-evaluation of the Biltmore program in June 1943. Chaim Weizmann’s earlier estimate of 25% destruction declared at the Biltmore conference now seemed wildly optimistic. Rabbi Meyer Berlin leader of the Mizrahi Zionist party disagreed arguing that no one could know how many Jews would survive and how many would die.
American Jewish conference
At the American Jewish Conference
American Jewish Conference
American Jewish Conference was an ad hoc organization that first met in Pittsburg in January 1943, and had its first official conference in August that year. The initial meeting included delegates from thirty-two national Jewish organizations...
of 29 August 1943 the adoption of the Biltmore program was challenged by Joseph Proskauer and Robert Goldman, they argued that the immediate problem was the rescue effort, not the establishment of a Jewish commonwealth. Goldman felt the Biltmore program was unduly weighted in favour of the establishment of a Jewish commonwealth and that the focus on this as a priority would hamper the efforts to rescue the European Jewry.
While Abba Silver and Emanuel Neumann put forwards that the establishment of a Jewish commonwealth should be the primary aim.