The Israel Government moved today to extend for one more year its authority to maintain military administration in the border regions of the country. Pinhas Lavon, Acting-Minister of Defense, introduced an empowering bill in the Israeli Parliament today and a second measure giving government authorities the power to deport undesirable or dangerous elements from areas of the country deemed to be security areas.
Both bills were given their first reading by the vote of all parties except the Arab, the left-wing Mapam and the Communists. The Arab deputies were strongly supported by the two leftist parties when they demanded abolition of military rule in the border zones.
The present laws providing punishment for infiltration are “inadequate and inefficient,” Mr. Lavon told Parliament. He demanded that special military courts be set up–thus guaranteeing speedy verdicts in such cases–but that the sentences meted out by these courts should be the same as those handed down in civil courts.
In a review of the damage done by infiltrees from January last to November 1, Mr. Lavon reported that 56 Israeli men, women and children had been killed, 96 had been wounded, there had been 14 attempts to mine roads and houses and 11 acts of sabotage, as well as 263 armed attacks and 540 thefts. He contrasted this with the fact that 139 persons apprehended harboring infiltrees had been sentenced to a total of 166 months in jail. He stressed that Jews as well as Arabs had harbored infiltrees.
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