Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion indicated today he would name a committee of General Staff officers to examine possible modifications of military government regulations covering border areas and Arab-populated sections of Israel.
Several parties oppose the regulations and they plan to propose soon in the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, that military government be abolished entirely. Leaders of all parties, except the Communists, will be invited to the meeting next week at which the issue will be discussed.
The Prime Minister plans to explain the security problems which he feels make retention of the military government program essential. While only a few of the regulations are enforced in peacetime, the Prime Minister reportedly considers their retention essential for emergencies.
A meeting of the Mapai secretariat, at which discussion of the problem was started, supported the Prime Minister’s position generally. One or two Mapai officials held that the proposed special committee should study the possibility of ending military government entirely. All secretariat members agreed, however, that no major changes should be made under pressure of the parties which oppose the regulations.
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