The Israel Government crisis, which lasted more than a week, ended today when the four General Zionist members who resigned from the Cabinet were sworn in at their former posts in Parliament, following a three-hour heated debate which was preceded by a statement by Premier David Ben Gurion.
“As I said a week ago,” Mr. Ben Gurion declared, “there was no real ground for their resignation which resulted from a misunderstanding, which could easily be settled. I am glad to announce that such goodwill has prevailed and I ask the Knesset to approve the Cabinet with Dr. Peretz Bernstein as Minister of Trade, Israel Rokach as Minister of Interior, Joseph Saphir as Minister of Communications and Joseph Serlin as Minister of Health.”
The four returned to the Cabinet following an agreement between their party and Premier Ben Gurion that a state education law would be submitted by the Cabinet to Parliament within a few days, and after receiving assurances that the Minister of Education would issue instructions to all schools prohibiting the hoisting of any flag in schools except the Israel flag and the singing of any hymn except the national anthem. A bill on the flag-anthem issue will be introduced in Parliament by the reconstituted Cabinet.
NON-CONFIDENCE VOTE DEFEATED BY OVERWHELMING MAJORITY
The vote for the reconstituted Cabinet was 72 to 24, with two abstentions. The Agudath Israel deputies were among those who voted against. A non-confidence resolution presented by the Herut, Communists and Dr. Moshe Sneh’s leftist group, was defeated by an overwhelming majority.
The three-hour debate was opened by Mapam leader Itzhak Ben Aharon who severely criticized the pro-government Mapai Party for the compromise it had made with the General Zionists on the flag-anthem issue. “This is Mapai’s most shameful surrender,” he said. “It is more shameful than any of the previous surrenders made by Mapai since it became the ruling party.”
The last two speakers were Meir Argov, of the Mapai, and Joseph Saphir, of the General Zionists. Mr. Argov attacked the General Zionists–on his own behalf–for their former attitude toward Jewish labor and national problems. His criticism coupled with a remark that the Socialist red flag and the “International” still remain the flag and the anthem of the labor movement, provoked consternation among the General Zionist deputies, but after Premier Ben Gurion’s intervention, Mr. Argov agreed to retract the remarks which the General Zionists considered offensive.
Mr. Saphir, speaking on behalf of the General Zionists, outlined the views of his party with regard to a unified state-controlled educational system.
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