Labor Party Rift Widens As Katchalski Returns to Israel

Prof. Ephraim Katchalski, the Labor Party’s nominee for the presidency of Israel, returned home from the United States today and was greeted at Lod Airport by Premier Golda Meir and a large group of well-wishers including Cabinet ministers, Labor Party officials and leaders of the Weizmann Institute of Science. The 57-year-old Weizmann Institute biophysicist spoke to reporters for the first time since he was nominated last Thursday by the Labor Party’s Central Committee. Expounding on his views of the presidency of Israel, Dr. Katchalski said he envisioned a united society without discrimination, without underprivileged groups, and within which the gap between the communities will be closed.

He said he saw the task of the president to be that of maintaining the tradition and spirit of the nation, elevating its moral, cultural and spiritual values and “guiding it along the paths that have made the Jewish nation famous.”

Dr. Katchalski returned as a serious rift developed over his candidacy between the Labor Party’s Mapai faction which had vigorously promoted his nomination and the party’s Rafi wing which backed Deputy Knesset Speaker Yitzhak Navon for the office of president. Katchalski told reporters that he had learned of the repercussions while on his way home to Israel but offered no further comment. At the time of his nomination he was attending a symposium at the University of California, Berkeley, on the work of his late brother. Prof. Aharon Katzir-Katchalsky, who was killed in the Lod Airport massacre last May 30.

BEN-GURION LETTER WIDENS RIFT

The intra-party was further aggravated today by the disclosure of a letter written to Navon by former Premier David Ben-Gurion who said that Navon should have been elected and expressed regrets that he wasn’t.

The Jerusalem branch of the Labor Party which favored Navon has moved to create a new bloc within the party to counter the Tel Aviv bloc headed by Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir and Mayor Yehoshua Rabinowitz, both Mapai leaders who promoted Katchalski’s nomination. Jerusalem party leaders are also reported to have contacted the Haifa branch and local town branches with the view of establishing a new group within the party.

Two Rafi leaders Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and Transport Minister Shimon Peres visited Navon separately in Jerusalem yesterday. There was no indication of what they discussed. Students at Israeli universities announced today that they would hold a pro-Navon rally in Jerusalem Wednesday.

SUPPORT LAGS IN KNESSET

The Labor Party has apparently made little headway in its efforts to mobilize support for Dr. Katchalski in the Knesset, which convenes April 10 to elect a successor to President Zalman Shazar. A simple majority is required but Katchalski supporters are interested in amassing the largest possible vote for-him. So far only Mapam and Knesset member Uri Avneri of the one-man Haolam Hazeh faction have announced that they will support Katchalski. The National Religious Party refused to sign the Katchalski nomination yesterday. NRP leaders were reportedly conferring with Gahal and the Agudat Israel factions about nominating an alternative candidate.

Ben-Gurion’s letter has apparently deepened the bitterness felt by the Rafi wing over the rejection of their man. Navon, a leader of the Sephardic community, served as Ben-Gurion’s secretary when he was Premier. The 83-year-old Ben-Gurion wrote, “Dear Yitzhak, I am one of the many who are deeply sorry that the very man who should have been made President at this time was not elected. I have nothing against the man who was elected, but…I am sorry that you were not elected. I believe that the Jewish nation will still realize your worth and that we shall one day see you as President of the nation.”