The inspiring spirit and the driving force, he who most successfully had made many distinguished non-Jewish personalities familiar with Zionism and who championed with all his energy and enthusiasm a Zionist political programme in England, was Dr. Chaim Weizmann. In the very earliest months of the war he began to collect the threads for the political work, to rouse the Zionist circles with which he was in touch, to revive old connections in non-Jewish circles and to form new ones, to prepare for negotiations――in a word, to open up the work that was destined later on to become a properly-organized programme. Herein he had the support of a group of enthusiastic and deeply sympathetic Zionists, and was strengthened and stimulated in his initiative by them. The first attempts to confer with the Government representatives about Zionism were made: the impressions were satisfactory. One foresaw that this contained the germs of promising possibilities. These impressions led to the conclusion that mere discussions alone were not sufficient, but rather that it was necessary to formulate plans. In order to formulate plans and in order to obtain authority from the Zionist Organization to submit these plans (for such appeared to be the next step) it would be necessary to establish a centre in London, and to obtain the necessary representative powers. It would also be necessary to write more about Zionism: to publish books, to undertake propagandist work――in another and more direct manner. The means were also considered to win over the non-Zionist, perhaps even the anti-Zionist, Jewish elements. All these aims were discussed, weighed, and elaborated by a small circle. It was not the whole of English Jewry, it was not even the then existing English Zionist Federation; it was really a circle of a few Zionists, mostly intellectuals who corresponded with Dr. Weizmann, and met and took counsel with him.