The Jerusalem Municipal Council by a vote of ten to nine last night refused to permit Mayor Gershon Agron to attend the Congress of International Union of Municipal Authorities convening next Wednesday in West Berlin. The Mayor had been scheduled to lead an Israel delegation to the conference.
The deciding vote was cast by Abraham Arrest, a member of the left-wing Achdut Avodah which is a member of the Municipal coalition but which is in dispute with Mayor Agron in connection with the recent Histadrut elections. Councillor Arrest. however, said his negative ballot was a “vote of conscience” because he felt, as did the other opposing councillors, that Jerusalem’s Mayor should not make an official trip to Germany.
Mayor Agron said he thought his “demonstrative absence” might hurt Israel in West German relations and also greatly reduced any possibility that the next conference of the International Union might be held in Jerusalem.
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