President Itzhak Ben Zvi took a completely expected step today–he invited David Ben Gurion, senior leader of the Mapai Party, to try to form a Cabinet on the “broadest possible basis.”
After he left the President’s office, Mr. Ben Gurion told newsmen that he will attempt to set up a government along the lines of the Provisional Government of 1948, in which virtually all parties were included. He will begin his formal consultations with the leaders of various parties next week, he said.
Once again he re-iterated the five chief points of the program around which he hopes to build a government–increase in immigration, particularly from North Africa; intensification of colonization, particularly in the wastelands; integration of the immigrants in Israel society; strengthening of the state’s security arrangements, and vigorous observance of the armistice agreements.
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.
