Ben-gurion Reported Delaying Resignation; Influenced by U.S. Developments

Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion intends to delay action on his resignation threat until the last week in January because of two important political events, it was reported here today.

These events were understood to be the change in the United States national administration and a demand from the United States Government for some form of control over Israel’s atomic reactor plants.

Finance Minister Levi Eshkol continued his peace-making efforts in the squabble between. the Prime Minister and Pinhas Lavon, secretary-general of the Histadrut. The Finance Minister was seeking to establish a committee of five to seven veterans of the Prime Minister’s Mapai party who have remained neutral in the bitter dispute. The task of such a committee would be to clarify, from the standpoint of party loyalty and party discipline, actions taken and statements made in the dispute.

The Mapai faction supporting the Prime Minister wants such action against Mr. Lavon but the Histadrut leader has-said he would appear before such a committee only if all persons involved in the dispute–including the Prime Minister–were called before the committee.

Meanwhile, the three Mapai Ministers supporting Mr. Ben-Gurion–Minister of Education Abba Eban, Minister of Agriculture Moshe Dayan and Minister of Labor Giora Josephtal –announced they would not serve in any government without Ben-Gurion. The other Mapai members in the Cabinet are Eshkol, Foreign Minister Golda Meir, Minister of Trade Pinhas Sapir, and Police Minister Behor Shitreet. Mrs, Meir and Mr, Sapir have made it known that they will resign from the Government, if the Cabinet’s decision exonerating Mr. Lavon of blame for the 1954 “security affair” is reversed, as requested by Prime Minister Ben-Gurion.

Minister of Agriculture Moshe Dayan, former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, today revealed officially here that new documents which he tried to place before the Cabinet, charging Mr. Lavon-with “lying” in the latter’s fight for rehabilitation, had been supplied to him by Mr, Ben-Gurion.

Mr, Dayan was given permission by the Cabinet to submit those documents, which the Cabinet refused to consider, to the Parliamentary Security and Foreign Affairs Committee, In response to inquiries as to why he had private possession of official documents, Mr. Dayan said: “I received the documents, upon the request of the Defense Minister to his military secretary, and the Defense Minister permitted me to submit this material to the Cabinet, ” The Defense Minister is Mr, Ben-Gurion.