Efforts to avoid new elections and to obtain a “narrow coalition” Cabinet under the Premiership of Finance Minister Levi Eshkol, with David Ben-Gurion as Defense Minister, were continued today by Mapai, despite the first reading yesterday by Israel’s Parliament on bills to arrange for new elections. The “narrow” Cabinet was to be composed of Mapai, the National Religious party and the Progressive party.
Mapai leaders today asked the other two parties for an answer by Thursday. However, opinion was reported split today in the two parties with regard to the Mapai proposal, which also suggested that the new arrangement be limited to five months, after which Mr. Ben-Gurion would return to the Prime Minister’s post.
The executive of the Progressive party was scheduled to meet on the question tomorrow. It was reported today that some leaders of the party favored rejecting the Mapai proposal outright. They contended that a proposed merger with the General Zionists into a new “liberal” non-Socialist party had priority over other issues.
Other Progressive party leaders, including Justice Minister Pinhas Rosen, were reported to favor the Mapai proposal in principle, but were opposed to the temporary nature of the proposed Cabinet. They were also insistent on new negotiations among the partners of the proposed coalition before there could be any change in the Premiership. Similarly, some National Religious party leaders wanted to make agreement to the proposal contingent on the Progressives accepting it.
The Mapai proposal did not represent a unanimous view of party leaders, it was indicated. Several of the younger leaders, including Deputy Defense Minister Shimon Peres, party secretary-general Joseph Almogi, and Knesset member Akiva Govrin, strongly opposed any arrangement which in their view would be tantamount to Mapai “giving up Ben-Gurion.” Mr. Almogi was reported to have threatened to resign if such a Cabinet was formed. Mapai ministers however, persisted in seeking combinations and arrangements to make possible a coalition without elections.
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.
