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month only served as an instiga
tion to Shertok to continue plug
ging. working, building, planning,
for the goal had not yet been
reached.
The first major occurrence which
catapulted Shertok into a position
close to the political leadership
took place in 1931, when Labor
Zionism emerged triumphant in
the elections to the 17th World
Zionist Congress and assumed the
political representation of the Jew
ish Agency. Dr. Chaim Arlosoroff
became head of the political de
partment, but he made it a condi
tion that Shertok should become
his political secretary. And thus
began a new chapter in his life
which was to bring him into the
midst of the leadership of the
World Zionist Movement and the
Palestine Yishuv. Two years later
came Dr. Arlosoroff's assassination,
followed by Shertok's election as
his successor at the 18th Zionist
Congress at Prague, Czechoslo
vakia. in 1933.
Since then he has headed the
Agency's political department,
whose headquarters are located in
Jerusalem, until the end of 1946
when the 22nd Zionist Congress
at Basle, in addition to re-electing
him, also entrusted him with a
special mission as political repre
sentative in Washington for the
Executive of the Jewish Agency.
More than three decades ago, Sher
tok turned to Constantinople as
the ray of hope for the future of
a Jewish Palestine. A quarter of
a century ago, that ray of hope
had shifted to London. Now, his
hope, his energy and his activity
are concentrated on Washington.
This is not intended to mean that
Shertok was mistaken in his earlier
judgments, it merely accentuates
the fact that world events and
world conditions have eliminated
Constantinople as a leading center
in world affaris and have removed
London to a place of secondary
importance.
While international diplomacy
and negotiations with the Manda
tory Power and with foreign gov
ernments are the essential func
tions of the Agency’s political de
partment, it also discharges a va
riety of other functions, such as
immigration quotas, defense, se
curity, guiding public opinion and
molding the political line of the
Yishuv. In the years before the
war, the wringing of an additional
few thousand immigration certifi
cates was a major accomplishment;
securing an additional 2,000 rifles
for the defense of Jewish settle
ments was an important victory.
The "policy of restraint” (Havla-
gah), instituted by the political
department in 1936-1939 had its
purpose and place during the Arab
terror of those years.
With the coming of World War
II. Shertok concentrated all his ef
forts from the very first day to
wards the establishment of a Jew
ish military unit in the struggle
against Hitlerism. He conferred
with Britain’s outstanding mili
tary leaders, including Generals
Ironside, Alexander, Wilson, Dill,
Wavell and Auchinlek, concerning
Jewish military participation, but
he did not succeed until 1944 and
then not in the degree he had
hoped, i.e., a Jewish army. After
several years of war. Britain final
ly acceded to the creation of a
Jewish Brigade as an independent
fighting unit. But even at that it
came about as a result of inces
sant battering at the doors of the
British Government and Army by
the head of the Agency’s political
department. Shertok likes to re
call the remark made to him by a
British general in Jerusalem dur
ing this period when Jews were
anxious to serve and Britain main
tained a solid refusal. “You’ll never
get your battalions,” the general
said to Shertok. "A Jewish bat
talion will mean a Jewish Army.
And that you won't get.”
Both, however, lived to see, if
not a Jewish Army, at least the
first Jewish battalions in 1942, and
two years later also the formation
of the Jewish Brigade. The Bri
gade, incidentally, was not the
only military aid given by the
Yishuv to Britain. Palestinian
parachutists were provided for
dangerous intelligence and sabo
tage missions in Europe and the
Middle East, while others were
trained to carry out specific under
ground activities.
The end of the war brought new
problems — and the battle of the
peace! Increased immigration,
rescue of Europe’s Jewish surviv
ors, facilitating new settlements on
the land, and the constant fighting;
fighting, fighting against the heavi
est political odds for the future of
the Jewish National Home — these
were the new tasks facing the po
litical head of the Jewish Agency.
The history of Britain’s post-war
policy in Palestine is too recent to
be repeated here. One of its low
points was reached on June 29,
1946, when the leaders of the Jew
ish Agency, including Shertok,
were arrested and detained for four
and a half months at the Latrun
detention camp. Britain finally
had to release them when she be
came convinced that the Yishuv
refuses to disassociate itself from
their policy, while Shertok and his
colleagues refuse to become Jew
ish Quislings. Shertok was freed
in November and shortly thereaf
ter he left for Basle to attend the
World Zionist Congress, and from
there came to the United States to
take charge of the Agency’s po
litical activities in Washington.
Shertok is fluent in at least eight
languages: Hebrew, Yiddish, Eng
lish, Arabic, Russian, French, Ger
man and Turkish. He has two
sons and a daughter. His eldest
son served with the Jewish Bri
gade and recently figured as leader
of one of the eleven settlements,
Hatzerim, which were established
so spectacularly overnight in the
Negev.
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