The Israel Parliament reconvened today from its Passover recess and promptly defeated, by a vote of 57 to 7, with 14 abstentions, a Communist motion of non-confidence in the government. This session, which is expected to last six or seven weeks, is the last one before the elections this summer of a new Parliament.
The Communist motion criticized Defense Minister David Ben Gurion for an “arrogant, sabre-rattling” speech on Independence Day and charged that Mr. Ben Gurion’s address had not been approved by the Cabinet and represented a separatist move.
Premier Moshe Sharett, who replied for the government, stated that Mr. Ben Gurion had propounded “nothing new” in his address. He welcomed the Communist move, he said, as an opportunity to demonstrate the great support which the government had. He was followed by representatives of the right-wing Herut and the left-wing Mapam and Achdut Avodah parties, all in the opposition, who criticized Mr. Ben Gurion’s speech but refused to associate themselves with the motion of non-confidence.
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