Knesset Suspends Beigin from Sessions for Three Months

The Israel Knesset last night voted 56-47 to exclude Menahem Beigin, Herut leader, from Parliamentary sessions until after the Passover recess. Earlier, the Herut deputies in Parliament decided to boycott the Knesset sessions in solidarity with their leader, who is being punished for his part in the anti-Parliamentary demonstrations of January 7.

The Knesset also praised the efforts of the police in Jerusalem to defend Parliament, and condemned the demonstrations and ensuing riots. A demand by the Herut for a special inquiry into the Beigin ban was turned down.

During the debate preceding the vote, the General Zionists condemned the January 7 demonstration but opposed the ban on Beigin as ” undermining Parliamentary immunity and sabotaging the Parliamentary regime.” The Progressives opposed the ban on similar grounds, adding that it amounted to “judging deputies for deeds done outside Parliament.”

The left-wing Mapam accused the Mapai-led majority in Parliament of imposing a new “emergency law” to silence criticism and charged the government with main tainting a political censorship of the press. The Mapam insisted that the Labor Party was using the Beigin issue to divert public opinion from the sad state of affairs in the country.” Herut deputies charged the government with “paving the way to totalitarianism” and pledged to continue the fight against direct negotiations with Germany.

Throughout the debate Mapai deputies vigorously defended the suspension of the Herut leader. At one point Premier David Ben Gurion intervened, insisting that only by such action can the government effectively defend it self, but added that the government would consider a point raised by Progressive leader Pinchas Rosen that Mr. Beigin must be brought to trial before he can be punished in the manner decided by Parliament.