A number of Cabinet members, including Premier David Ben Gurion, were in revolt today against the new identity cards issued by the Ministry of Interior for use by all citizens. They refused to accept cards issued to them.
Mr. Ben Gurion’s principal refusal was based on the fact that the card carried instructions in both Hebrew and Arabic, while he insisted that it should carry Hebrew only, as the nation’s official language.
Other oppositions came from religious ministers, who objected to the fact that a card holder could be identified as Jewish, without fulfilling any of the requirements which rabbinic law lay down for being a Jew. The Interior Ministry has defended itself from these charges with the argument that it is administratively impossible to lay down and implement a set of requirements which would define a Jew and that as a consequence the mere statement of an Israeli citizen that he is a Jew is sufficient evidence of it.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice has begun a study of the country’s official languages, which legally are Hebrew, Arabic and English. All three appear on postage stamps and currency. While English is falling into disuse, with French replacing it, official stationery continues to be published in Arabic as well as Hebrew.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
