Premier David Ben Gurion last night told a session of the Israeli Knesseth that he would resign as Minister of Defense after the seclusion of peace treaties with neighboring Arab states and as soon as the Army is reorganized on a peacetime basis.
Participating in a Knesseth discussion on the government-sponsored veterans rehabilitation bill, Ben Gurion said that since he was responsible for mobilization of Israel’s troops he also wishes to be responsible for their demobilization.
The Knesseth adjourned for two weeks today after adopting the first ten paragraphs of the veterans rehabilitation bill. Earlier, the question of the discharged police officers and government officials who served the former Mandatory power was highlighted during a discussion of a bill regulating the status of former Mandatory e?vil servants.
The Knesseth also agreed to extend the validity of the State Council-approved law governing these officials for an additional two-month period. At the same time the Knesseth decided to extend permanent status to some 4,000 government officials whe have already been screened. A committee to which 260 officials who were discharged can apply for appeal of their dismissals was also set up.
FIFTH OF IYAR PROCLAIMED AS “INDEPENDENCE DAY”
The Knesseth today decided to make the fifth day of the Hebrew month Iyar–anni{SPAN}###sary{/SPAN} of the proclamation of Israeli statehood–“Yom Haatzmauth,” or Independence {SPAN}###.{/SPAN} The Knesseth ordered that Independence Day should hereafter become a public holiday. A proposal submitted by a Religious Bloc deputy urging that the holiday be postponed to Sunday if the fifth of Iyar falls on the Sabbath was rejected.
The fifth of Iyar, which this year falls on May 5, will be celebrated as a national holiday, with regular workday schedules cancelled. Minister of Education Zal-### Shazar urged that Independence Day be marked by Jewish communities throughout the ###ld. Deputy Ben Zion Dinaburg called for the appointment of a special writers com-mmittee to prepare a “Scroll of Independence” which would be “read from generation to ### as a symbol of the liberation and freedom of Israel.” A government proposal name the fifth of Iyar “Day of Restoration” was defeated.
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