it had passed. The parties must continue to be Zionist because Zionism provides them with the funds necessary to operate.

Here we come to the crux of the matter-the connection between the Zionist character of the state and the structure of the Establishment. According to the Zionist credo, Israel exists in order to solve the Jewish Question. It is, therefore, only proper that Jews throughout the world should contribute liberally to Israel. To real Zionists, however, the incoming monies are not contributions at all, but a kind of ransom paid by Jews who, contrary to their national duty, do not come to Israel but stick to the fleshpots of the United States and other countries. Monetary contributions are raised in many ways, including the United Jewish Appeal, and flow to Israel in a great stream. In times of war and tension the amount rises, reaching a peak during the 1967 war.

How does this money come to Israel? A great part is transferred through the Jewish Agency, an anachronism from the days before 1948, when it acted as the Zionist government. The Agency today is an instrument for the distribution of money to the Zionist parties. Unlike the government and Parliament of Israel, over which strict public control is exercised, no real control exists over the Jewish Agency, whose governing bodies are not elected by any normal democratic process. It is a federation of party secretariats, pure and simple, a system for the division of the spoils. Several million dollars are parceled out directly among the Zionist parties, ostensibly as compensation for relinquishing their rights to organize their own fund-raising in the United States. But this represents only a fraction of the real division; by financing youth organizations, educational activities, propaganda agencies, and other institutions belonging to the Zionist parties, the Jewish Agency goes a long way toward sustaining the huge apparatus every Zionist party maintains in Israel and abroad. But even this is not its most important function.

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