Ousted Herut Leaders Decide to Form New Party; Stay in Knesset

Members of the Liberal Party in Parliament who are partners with the rightwing Herut Party in the Gahal faction decided today to keep the Gahal bloc intact despite the secession of three Members of Parliament from the Herut part of the bloc.

The three Herut members of the Knesset, who were ousted from the party in a bitter internal leadership struggle, are Shmuel Tamir, Eliezer Shostak and Avraham layar. Also joining the dissidents was Ari Jabotinsky, son of the late founder of the Revisionist Party, Zev Jabotinsky. The dissidents decided Monday night to establish a new party with a Knesset faction with its own center, executive and national council. The new group will be called the “Free Bloc.”

The three Herut deputies have still not declared themselves as a separate faction in the Knesset, saying they would be willing to remain in the Gahal bloc. However, the Liberals insisted today on the principle that it is the leadership of each Gahal partner which decides which deputies take part in bloc deliberations and holds Parliamentary offices on the bloc’s behalf.

The Liberal leaders noted that the Herut Party deprived the three Knesset members of all their offices and functions and that the three must announce they constitute a separate faction if they want to take part in Parliamentary activities. Such an announcement, however, would take them automatically out of the Gahal faction, ending their present twilight status.

Meanwhile, Dr. Y. Bader, Herut chairman of Gahal, the Herut-Liberal bloc, announced today that Mr. Tamir and the other two dissident Knesset members were ousted from all their positions on Parliamentary committees which they held on behalf of the Herut faction of Gahal.