Herzl presented the plan at the Sixth Zionist Congress but it faced resistance from many of the 573 assembled delegates. They considered it a betrayal of the 1897 Basel Program which had promoted settlement in Palestine. The plan won the formal support of the congress but it caused a rift between those who were in favor of the plan and those who were against it. Especially the Russian delegates were unhappy with the plan. "These people have a rope around their necks, but they still refuse," Herzl commented.