Attorney General Gideon Hausner asked the Israel Supreme Court today to reverse a decision invalidating “public welfare and security needs” as grounds for refusing registration to a company to do business in Israel. The case involves a pro-Nasser Arab group in Israel.
The issue developed when the Israeli registrar refused on those grounds to register an Arab nationalist group, Elard, which had issued a publication favoring the policies of President Nasser of Egypt. The court ruled that if the application was denied for fear that the group would resume publication of the pro-Nasser organ and publish seditious material, there was a censor who was competent to ban publication of matter likely to harm the security of the state.
In asking for a reversal, the Attorney General contended that under the present conditions, Israel could not “give official sanction to an organization whose aim is subversion and which seeks to promote this aim by means of the basest kind of agitation.” The court did not set a date for a ruling on the Attorney General’s appeal. Approval of the appeal would establish the principle that groups seeking registration as companies would have to be above suspicion concerning any intent to harm the state.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
