The Israel Parliament will reconvene tomorrow after its summer recess. The question of granting a status to the Jewish Agency is among the first items on the agenda. An announcement is also expected on changes in the Cabinet.
A 21 man political committee of the Mapai, major government party, met this morning to hear a report by Premier David Ben Gurion on the negotiations being conducted with various parties for their joining the Cabinet. In the meantime, it was reported today that the Mapai has reached an understanding with the Agudah Laborites. The report said that the understanding provides that conscripted religious girls are to serve not under the Ministry of Defense but under the Ministry of Labor.
Such an agreement makes it possible for Orthodox girls to complete their period of national service by doing agricultural work in religious settlements. In certain cases they will even be able to live in their own homes while on duty. It thus provides a satisfactory settlement of the problem of the conscription of religious women, against which the Agudah has protested by withdrawing its members from the Cabinet.
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