Three former members of Herut, who broke away from their party several weeks ago, announced here today the formation of a “Free Bloc”for independent faction inside the Knesset (Parliament), of which they are members. They are Shmuel Tamir, E. Shostak and A. Tayar. They announced the formation of the new parliamentary bloc after Gahal — the fusion of Herut and the Liberal Party — refused to recognize them as a third division inside Gahal.
The action followed Gahal’s refusal to restore to the three their parliamentary rights, including membership in parliamentary committees, from which Herut expelled them six weeks ago. Gahal appointed a committee to examine the possibility of the restoration of those rights to the three members. But the three refused to wait for that committee’s decision. They also spurned proposals which, they said, failed to give them an equal footing with Herut and Liberal members.
As a result of the formation of the independent faction, Gahal is now left with 23 members, of whom 12 belong to the Liberals and 11 to Herut. Mr. Tamir said today, after his group’s announcement, that the new faction would seek a new parliamentary lineup with the Liberals — if Gahal should break up — or with Rafi, the Israel Workers Party led by former Premier David Ben-Gurion,
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
