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Apathy in Israel’s Election Campaign; Ben-gurion Addresses Huge Audience

July 24, 1961
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Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion declared in an election speech to an audience of 10,000 at Herzliah last night that the people of Israel had more liberty than those of any other country in the world and that human rights in Israel were as secure as those of the most advanced countries.

His address was one of dozens made during the weekend as party campaigners sought to whip up a still lacking public enthusiasm for the campaign for the national election on August 15 to select a new Knesset, Israel’s Parliament. The pattern of the addresses was for Mapai speakers to praise the achievements of their party and for speakers of other parties to assail Mapai.

The Liberal Party, meanwhile, was granted by the Supreme Court the right to use the Hebrew letter Lamed (L) as its ballot symbol. Previously, the Central Elections Committee had vetoed the-Liberals’ application for use of the Lamed symbol, holding that the symbol had been pre-empted in an earlier election by a small party of Yemenite immigrants.

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