Israel President Consults Mizrachi and Herut on Formation of Cabinet

President Izhak Ben-Zvi today continued his consultations with party leaders on the formation of a new Government. He met today with representatives of the National Religious party who told him that the Mizrachi party would serve again under David Ben-Gurion as Prime Minister if he would waive his insistence on reopening the 1954 security mishap inquiry.

The Religious party leaders proposed a new Government based on the broadest possible coalition to replace the one that Mr. Ben-Gurion ended a week ago with the announcement that he could not accept a Cabinet vote of approval for a Ministerial Committee report exonerating Pinhas Lavon of responsibility for the 1954 security disaster. One of Mr. Ben Gurion’s conditions for attempting to form a new Government is the establishment of a judicial inquiry into the mishap and the other is the ouster of Mr. Lavon as secretary-general of the Histadrut, Israel’s Labor Federation.

President Ben-Zvi also met today with a delegation of the right-wing Herut. He met yesterday with a Mapai delegation which urged that he invite Mr. Ben-Gurion to form the new Government. The Herut delegation proposed today the setting up of a provisional Government and the holding of early national elections. The delegation proposed that a provisional Government be empowered only until elections were held and urged a limit for its duration.

The Herut leaders also proposed that if the Premier-designate could not assemble a new coalition within three weeks, the task should be given to the leader of a different party. The President will spend the rest of the week in consultations with other party leaders.