The Knesset last night voted to defer until next week action on a motion introduced by the General Zionist Party calling for new national elections to be held on June 5. A caucus of the Mapai Party today voted to call for general elections by June 19, with the new parliament to have the same number of members as the present house of 120.
Premier Chaim Weizmann received Premier David Ben Gurion at Rehovoth today in connection with the Cabinet crisis. It is understood that Mr. Ben Gurion reiterated to the President his views about the necessity of holding new elections. Dr. Weizmann has been expected to ask the Premier to form an interim government to function until new elections are held.
The legal Commission of the Knesset, meeting yesterday, decided not to recommend any changes in the election system in order to avoid delay. It also decided that all immigrants who arrived in the country prior to March 1 of this year should be entitled to vote.
A major question to be settled if elections are to be held now is their supervision. According to the present procedure, supervision of elections is in the hands of the Minister of the Interior. However, the Mapai Party demands that supervision be placed in the hands of a ministerial committee.
The Mapai Party came out victorious today in the local elections of Mishmar Yeshiva. This is regarded as a severe set-back for the Communists. Located on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, this settlement, formerly known as Jajour village, was regarded as a Communist stronghold.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
