Mapam Convention Opens with Display of Unity with Labor

The Mapam national convention opened at the Mann Auditorium here last night with a minimum of ceremonial pomp and repaired this morning to Hamaccabiah Village in Ramat Gan for serious political debate Judging from the initial speeches and the responses from the 1131 delegates, a majority of Mapam wants to preserve their alignment with the Labor Party and work from within to effect the political changes Mapam advocates in Israel’s foreign and domestic policies.

A small but vocal minority demands an immediate split with Labor and a separate Mapam list in next year’s Knesset elections. The matter will not come up for a decision at this convention however. Mapam’s political committee decide a week ago to remain within the Alignment until the Labor Party’s convention in December indicates whether the Mapam-Labor gap can be bridged.

Nevertheless, the Labor Party leadership has apparently decided to exert all possible pressure to avert a split. A large Labor delegation was present at the convention opening, headed by Premier Yitzhak Rabin. Mapam ministers and Knesset members mingled with their Labor counterparts on the dais in a display of partnership and Rabin offered a degree of encouragement to Mapam in his address to the convention.

He reiterated that Israel is ready for farreaching territorial concessions in Sinai, the Golan Heights and on the West Bank in exchange for a genuine peace. His speech drew warm applause although the Premier did not define what he meant by far-reaching concessions. He said his government’s policies were in the tradition of the labor movement and stressed that Israel would not insist on full peace or nothing but was willing to make gradual progress toward peace through interim agreements. He devoted a good part of his speech to Israel’s social achievements, noting that this is the only democratic country that does not solve its economic problems by engendering unemployment.

TALMI URGES INITIATIVE

Meir Talmi, Mapam’s secretary general, delivered a sober response to Rabin. He said no one was happy with the prospects of terminating the Labor Alignment, especially in view of recent social and political developments and the consolidation of the right-wing factions. Talmi maintained that an Israeli political initiative for peace is essential now to avoid a solution imposed by the two superpowers at a later date. He urged a realistic evaluation of the political situation which he defined as recognition that Israel would have to make significant withdrawals in the Sinai, Golan and West Bank but be prepared to fight for its essential security borders.

Talmi said that Israel could not ignore the Palestinian claim to national Identity and should express readiness to negotiate with any Palestinian body that recognizes Israel. He said the problem should be solved within the framework of negotiations with Jordan. The Mapam leader took strong issue with the annexationists of Herut and the Gush Emunim. They must realize, he said, that the nation cannot live forever on bayonets. He opposed Jewish settlements on the West Bank and urged action against the Gush Emunim and their leader, Rabbi Moshe Levinger of Kiryat Arba, who have repeatedly defied government policy.

Present at the opening of the Mapam, convention were many of Israel’s leading public figures including President Ephraim Katzir. Histadrut secretary general Yeruham-Meshel, Jewish Agency chairman Yosef Almogi and Meir Zarmi, secretary general of the Labor Party. Mayor Shlomo Lehat of Tel Aviv extended the city’s official welcome.

There was also a large delegation of guests from abroad, including representatives of the Rumanian Communist Party and the Italian Socialist Party. The two Rumanians were the first Communist delegation ever to attend a Zionist party convention in Israel. They are Vasili Shandry a former Ambassador to Yugoslavia and presently deputy chief of the Rumanian Communist Party’s foreign relations department; and Dumitru Hortu. The Italian Socialists were represented by the party’s comptroller. Sandro Mancinelli and Enrica Locarelli, head of the women’s division. There were also delegations from France and Denmark.