Chaim Weizmann the first Zionist Congress by the time he came to England. Gradually Weizmann set up a separate following from Moses Gaster and L.J. Greenberg in London. Manchester became an important intellectual resource for Zionism in Britain. He made a valuable contribution to liberalism, encouraging journalism on the "Manchester Guardian". Through editor C P Scott, Weizmann was mentor to Harry Sacher, and two other distinguished young men, Israel Sieff, and Simon Marks (founders of Marks & Spencer). Weizmann formed a friendship with another import/export merchant from Russia, Asher Ginzberg, a writer who would be essential to the WZF's Zionist inclusivity, urging
Chaim Weizmann 10 February 1917 another was held, in a series of winter meetings in London. The older generation of Greenberg, Joseph Cowen and Gaster were stepping down or being passed over. "...those friends ... in close cooperation all these years", he suggested should become the EZF Council- Manchester's Sieff, Sacher and Marks, and London's Leon Simon and Samuel Tollowsky. While the war was raging in the outside world, the Zionists prepared for an even bigger fight for the survival of their homeland. Weizmann issued a statement on 11 February 1917, and on the following day, they received news of the Kerensky