D O C . 5 9 O N PA L E S T I N E . F I R S T V E R S I O N 4 3 7
who contributed? No, mainly the middle class—that is where it came from, in fact. Well you see, the
American millionaire prefers of course to buy power with his wealth, and this he accomplishes mainly
by getting public opinion on his side, but what is it to public opinion whether he also donates a large
sum to the Zionist University fund, even though perhaps in Jerusalem a chair will be named after
him?” See Appendix D, sec. 2.
In emphasizing that the reservoir of funds and of goodwill lay with the “middle class,” Einstein
touched on a sensitive issue that was rooted in part in the debate between cultural and political Zion-
ists (see note 5). The cultural wing was strongly identified with the leadership of the ZOA, while the
political wing was represented by the international ZO leadership and its allies within the American
organization. In addressing the mass of Zionist supporters in the United States, the European Zionists,
including Einstein, were appealing over the heads of the cautious, more gradualist American leader-
ship.
[12]The German cost-of-living index—including food, clothing, housing, heat, and light—had
risen to 11.67 in June 1921, compared to its prewar level (see Feldman 1993, p. 216). The ZO’s depen-
dence on American contributions to the Keren Hayesod is illustrated by the fact that, in the period
between April and September 1921, the fund’s net income from all of Europe (excluding England)
was less than $66,000, while American donations exceeded $115,000 (see Ulitzur 1940, p. 14).