Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Religious Bloc leader Moshe Shapiro were scheduled to meet tonight for what could be a decisive meeting in Mr. Ben-Gurion’s efforts to create a new coalition Government.
Acceptance by Mr. Shapiro of Mr. Ben-Gurion’s bid to the Religious Bloc to join a small coalition would lead Mr. Ben-Gurion to meet President Ben-Zvi tomorrow to inform the President he would accept the nomination of Premier-Designate. Israel has been directed by a caretaker government since Mr. Ben-Gurion resigned January 31.
The terms which Mr. Shapiro was demanding for participation included a commitment by Mr. Ben-Gurion and his Mapai party to legislate a national Sabbath law and a ban on pork throughout Israel. The Mapai has offered three Ministries, one more than the Religious Bloc had in the prior Government, plus the post of Deputy Minister of Education.
The Mapai reportedly was ready even to give such commitments to avoid new general elections. Even the Religious Bloc party newspaper, Hatzofe, urged today any kind of coalition rather than “pushing the country into an election turmoil.”
Mr. Ben-Gurion turned to the idea of a small coalition, which would include also the Aguda Workers party, when the Progressive party reiterated a firm refusal to President Ben-Zvi to join a renewed coalition with Mr. Ben-Gurion as Premier–a stand also joined by two other former coalition partners, the left-wing Mapam and Achdut Avodah.
The National Religious party, however, was reported as remaining deeply split over the Mapai bid, with intellectuals and students in opposition and the majority, under Mr. Shapiro, favoring acceptance.
Elections within the Religious Bloc are due in a few months and some observers suggested that if Mr. Shapiro led the Religious Bloc into a Ben-Gurion-headed coalition, his foes would rally against him and try to unseat him as Religious Bloc leader.
On the other hand, the Ben-Gurion offer of additional Cabinet posts presumably would give the Religious Bloc leaders ample patronage to distribute to the many dissidents in the bloc.
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