President Zalman Shazar, accompanied by one aide, will go to London this week to attend the funeral service for the late Sir Winston Churchill next Saturday, it was officially announced by the Government today.
The plan to send former Premier David Ben-Gurion also, as a member of a four-man delegation headed by the President, has been dropped because the British Government informed Israel there will be room in St. Paul’s Cathedral, where the funeral service will be held, for only one official governmental mourner from Israel. Similar notices, it is understood, were sent by Britain to all governments except the United States, the Soviet Union and France, limiting all nations except the Big Three to one official mourner each.
The British Government also notified Israel that, due to the fact that the funeral services will be held on the Sabbath, special arrangements are being made for President Shazar to walk from his hotel to the cathedral.
Meanwhile, Kaddish Luz, Speaker of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, who is currently on an official visit to West Africa, has been ordered to return immediately. Under Israel’s law, the Speaker becomes Acting President when the President is away from the country. Mr. Luz will resume his African tour after President Shazar’s return.
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