The Cabinet today appointed a special ministerial committee to study the claims of various religious groups in Israel for repairs to damages suffered by church buildings in the Six-Day War. Although no official sum was given, it was learned that the claims amount to $1 million. The committee will submit recommendations as to whether aid should be given, and in what form. The Cabinet was told that only a few isolated claims had been received from Moslem religious authorities for damages to mosques, and that these have been dealt with by the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
The Cabinet deferred decision on whether the various parties in the Knesset, represented in the coalition Government, have a right to abstain on government sponsored motions with which they do not agree. Under Israeli law, Government ministers and their factions in the Knesset bear collective responsibility for Government actions, and abstention without cabinet approval is equivalent to resignation from the government. The question came up when Mapam and Gahal (the Herut-Liberal Party fusion) asked permission to abstain in the debate over devaluation of the Israeli pound, which is to come up later this week.
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