Israel’s Parliament defeated today, in one of its final acts before recessing for 10 weeks, a Liberal party bill to reduce the service of women in the armed forces from 24 months to 18 months. The Knesset acted after Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, speaking in his capacity as Defense Minister, said that the General Staff was studying the question. He promised a report on the subject at the beginning of the Knesset’s winter session. The bill was beaten 36 to 30.
By a similar vote, the Knesset also defeated a bill from the right-wing Herut, which would enable the House to express non-confidence in an individual Minister. Under the present law, non-confidence action may be sought only against the Government as a whole. The majority accepted Justice Minister Dov Joseph’s view that the bill was in conflict with the principle of collective responsibility, under which the coalition Government operates.
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