Knesset Rebuffs Demand for Debate on Histadrut Leader

The Knesset rejected today a demand by three opposition factions–Gahal, the State List and the Free Center–to debate what they termed Histadrut secretary general Yitzhak Ben-Aharon’s incitement of Israeli workers. In asking the Knesset to strike the three motions from the agenda, Labor Minister Yosef Almogi said Ben-Aharon had been democratically elected and was not responsible to any entity other than Histadrut, including the Knesset.

Explaining why Gahal had joined in asking for the special Knesset session during recess, S. Zalman Abramov of the Liberal wing said the aim was not to limit self-expression but to limit incitement and demagoguery. He said that Ben-Aharon’s use of such terms as “feudal barons” and “effendis” in referring to industrialists had worsened labor relations instead of improving them, resulting in a wave of strikes which would never have come about had the workers not drawn encouragement from the Histadrut chief. Abramov warned that if Ben-Aharon were not checked, demagoguery would overrun democracy in Israel.

(In a television interview last night, Menachem Beigin, leader of Gahal and of its Herut wing, accused Ben-Aharon again of inciting “class warfare” and “social revolution” and of threatening the economy. While Ben-Aharon is not personally responsible for the strike wave, Beigin said, he has the power to hold back the economy and discourage investments.)

Yigal Horowitz of the State List said in the debate that Ben-Aharon’s statements were frightening away foreign investors, which he maintained could have disastrous results. Shmuel Tamir of the Free Center said Ben-Aharon was interested only in enhancing his own political position. “There is method in Ben-Aharon’s madness,” Tamir said. Ben-Aharon’s statement to the house was low-keyed. The 66-year-old labor leader said he had been an ardent Socialist all his life and would continue to fight for social justice in Israel.