The Parliament of Israel gave an overwhelming vote of confidence to its government today on its handling of the Russian situation which was climaxed last week when the Soviet Union severed diplomatic relations with the Jewish State.
Following a report to the Knesset by Premier David Ben Gurion on the events which led up to the Soviet action, and a general debate on the issue today, the Knesset voted confidence in the Government 79-16. Resolutions of non-confidence in the Government introduced by the Mapam Party, the Communist Party and the Left Movement headed by Dr. Moshe Sneh were defeated by even larger margins as the right-wing Herut Party, which abstained from supporting the Government’s confidence motion, voted with the Government against the leftist groups on their non-confidence motions.
The debate was opened last night when Premier Ben Gurion reviewed the recent Israel-Soviet relations and rejected Soviet charges against the Jewish State. Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett wound up the debate tonight in a five-hour speech.
The debate generally covered known ground but two facts not previously disclosed were revealed. They were that Israel had once invited Andrei Gromyko, Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister, to visit Israel, an invitation he had declined, and that Mr. Sharett had sought permission to visit Russia but had been refused.
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