Police Minister Behor Shitreet appeared today before the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, with a report on the disturbances in Beersheba Monday in which seven persons were hurt and 26 arrested. He also reported on earlier disturbances in Migdal Haemek in which 12 policemen were injured.
The Minister proposed that the Knesset refer the entire matter to a parliamentary committee without debate. However, his proposal was overruled. Signatures were being collected among Knesset members with a view to forcing a debate next week. Thirty signatures are necessary to request a parliamentary debate.
Mr. Shitreet told the Knesset that Beersheba police had been alerted and reinforced a few days before the rioting when it had been learned that a group was planning disturbances similar to those in Haifa. The police official called the riots “wanton criminal outbreaks” because, he said, there was no excuse of unemployment or other reason that might have served as an occasion for protests.
Discussing the riot in Migdal Haemek Sunday night–attributed to dissatisfaction of residents with work norms on Jewish National Fund projects in the Galilee–Mr. Shitreet said that the norms were based on recommendations of the Agricultural Trade Union and that they were generally filled in six hours, although an experienced worker could do it in four hours.
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