The Herut Party of Israel opened its fifth national conference here last night in the presence of 500 delegates and 2,500 guests and observers, including representatives of all other major parties in Israel.
In his keynote address to the convention, Menahem Beigin, party leader, called for: Expansion of Israel territory to its “historic borders”; discontinuance of a policy of seeking foreign guarantees and replacing it by a drive for military agreements of mutual benefit–particularly with France; rapprochement with Turkey; seeking betterment of relations with the Eastern European bloc while rejecting Communism; refusal to have diplomatic relations with Germany; and extension of the open hand of friendship to the nations of Africa and Asia.
On internal policy, Mr. Beigin recommended an economic platform akin to that of the General Zionists, calling for abolition of all foreign currency controls, encouragement of free enterprise and foreign investment in Israel, and division of the Histadrut into two parts–one a trade union network, the other a system of business.
If the Herut comes to power, he pledged, it would do away with the coalition government’s instructions for registration of citizens. This issue disrupted the previous government when the National Religious Party charged that the registration procedures would violate Jewish religious law.
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