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bwas clearly fixed by party discipline and that the AZF and bPincus would never let the JDL into the official Zionist bmovement. I return to the Post: b“Kahane meanwhile left . . . hinting that he may call a bcongress of his own. I asked him if he felt that he had bachieved his purpose. Rabbi Kahane replied: ‘I came here to braise the issue of the holocaust which is facing American bJewry. If this subject isn’t raised, then I haven’t achieved my baim.’ The vote in the hall had been a tragedy for American bJewry, he continued. . . . b“On the way out he was enthusiastically embraced by a bnumber of Russian immigrants. The rabbi’s exit had practi- bcally emptied the hall and ideological debate continued to bempty rows of seats which minutes before had been packed bwith excited delegates.” bDespite my failure to speak, my appearance had been bgiven banner headlines in the newspaper Ha’aretz, the arti- bcle on the Congress was titled “Rabbi Kahane’s Day,” and a bhuge article in the mass-circulated Yediot Aharonot featured bmy efforts to convince the Jews of the possibility of a bholocaust and the need for emergency aliyah. Dosh, Israel’s bmost popular cartoonist, featured a marvelous cartoon in bIsrael’s largest paper, Maariv. It showed the Congress dais bwith a long-winded speaker at the microphone and a row of bbored, dozing members. Above them hangs the huge pic- bture of Theodor Herzl, the founder of political Zionism, bthat dominates the Congress hall. Only the frame is there; bthe picture is gone and in its place is a note that reads: “I will breturn soon. T. Herzl.” One of the bored dais members bturns to the other and says: “Apparently, he went to hear bwhat Rabbi Kahane had to say.” bWhat I had to say would be heard in a speech. For I had bdecided that if I could not speak at the Congress I would bmake my own “little Congress.” The idea was so novel that bthe Jerusalem Post, a bitter foe of JDL and faithful govern- bment spokesman, titled its editorial that appeared on that bday “Kahane’s Congress.” bBefore a standing-room-only crowd of over six hundred bin Jerusalem’s Central Hotel, I outlined my thesis and b
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