The Eighth Zionist Congress, in accordance with Herzl's tradition of keeping the Zionist movement in the public eye, this Congress met at The Hague on Aug. 14–21, 1907, while the Second International Peace Conference was taking place there. The struggle between political and practical Zionists was resolved by the decision that settlement activity in Erez Israel should not be delayed until after the receipt of the "charter." On the contrary, planned small-scale settlement, not exceeding the limits of the Basle Program, was to precede the charter, which would thus be obtained on the strength of these "small" achievements. Wolffsohn was the mediator between the two camps. As Herzl's close friend and loyal disciple, on the one hand, and a sober man of affairs, on the other, he was eminently suited to this function. Weizmann's famous speech on "synthetic Zionism" merged political and practical Zionism into an organic whole and laid a common foundation for both camps. He stated: "We must aspire to a charter, but our aspiration will be realized only as a result of our practical work in Erez Israel." As a result of this approach, the Palestine Office was founded in Jaffa in 1908 to direct the work of agricultural settlement on behalf of the World Zionist Organization. The office was headed by Arthur Ruppin.