The Israeli Cabinet today overruled an Army court-martial and ordered the release of two Orthodox soldiers sentenced to one week’s imprisonment for refusal to cook a meal on the Sabbath.
The case raised a storm of protest both in the Cabinet and among the people; the Mizrachi Labor Party held a public protest rally. In the Cabinet, Minister for Religion Judah L. Fishman protested against the court-martial sentence, asserting that religious Jewry was shocked by it. He was supported by Minister for the Inter##lor Itzhak Gruenbaum who said that although he personally was not religious he supported Fishman’s position as a matter of guaranteeing freedom of conscience.
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