Israel proposals for international control of the Holy Places in Jerusalem do not involve the recognition of Transjordan annexation of the Old City, Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett today told the parliament. He spoke during a discussion which culminated in a decision to postpone debate on the Israel Government’s proposals to the Trusteeship Council.
The discussion started with the presentation of motions by the Mapam and Herut for a debate on the issue. The former demanded to know why Israel should have initiated a plan under which foreign powers would be enabled “to enter Israel by the back door and interfere with her sovereignty.” The rightists accused the government of surrendering the Old City “to foreign powers which, under a religious veil, aim to occupy strategic positions in Israel to use it later as a Trojan horse.”
Mr. Sharett asserted that Israel had taken the initiative in the Jerusalem issue because the Jewish state needs a constructive solution of the problem. Both the United Nations and the Knesset, he said, had been informed of this desire as early as November, 1948. He said a debate at this time would be “inadvisable” because the Jerusalem situation is currently being discussed in various quarters and will be on the agenda of the forthcoming session of the U.N. General Assembly.
After the vote to postpone debate–carried 46-24–both Mapam and Herut deputies raised an outcry. Uri Zvi Grucnberg, of Herut, shouted: “You sold out Jerusalem. There will never be peace and quiet.”
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