Negotiations continued today on the formation of a new National Unity Government but whatever progress has been made, if any, has not been disclosed. The left-wing Mapam is standing firm on its refusal to join a coalition with the rightist, nationalist Gahal (Herut-Liberal Alignment) except on the basis of the same policies and structure that prevailed in the outgoing national Unity Government.
It was learned today that the Achdut Haavodah faction, one of the constituents of Premier Golda Meir’s Labor Party, has dissociated itself from Gahal’s demands for the compulsory arbitration of labor disputes and the sale of State-owned land to private individuals. Gahal believes the latter policy could yield important revenues to the national treasury.
There has been no discussion yet of the distribution of portfolios in the new Cabinet. It is generally believed that Gahal will receive at least three ministries. It holds two ministries-without-portfolio in the outgoing Government. There are also reports that several prominent persons who are not members of the Knesset will be invited to join the Cabinet on behalf of the Labor Alignment. Among the names mentioned are Gen. Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s Ambassador to the United states, and Shlomo Hillel, a former Knesset member and ambassador who is assistant director general of the Foreign Ministry. Mr. Hillel was born in Iraq. The Labor Party has traditionally sought to have at least one minister of Oriental background in the Cabinet.
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