Stormy scenes were witnessed upon the floor of the Knesset last night as the Parliament’s foreign policy debate, begun Monday night, continued with more of the opposition parties joining in the attack on Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett and the coalition government for the setback which Israel suffered at the late United Nations session and for the reported peace treaty negotiations with Trans jordan.
In the midst of an attack on Mr. Sharett by Menachem Beigin, leader of the Herut Party and former commander of the underground Irgun Zvai Leumi, Premier David Ben Gurion jumped out of his chair, shouting; “This is the Cabinet’s collective responsiblity. You should address the entire Cabinet, not only Sharett.” Beigin’s reply was: “Then you must all resign.” Speaker Josef Sprinzak had great difficulty in restoring order after this exchange.
Earlier, Nathan Friedman-Yellin, head of the Fighters Party, warned that a peace guaranteeing the partition of Jerusalem will lead to a series of foreign capitulations. “The Bible set the borders of Israel, which are, simultaneously, its historical, geographical and economic frontiers and which cannot be changed,” he declared. He insisted that the U.N. vote on the internationalization of Jerusalem was not unexpected. “Alarm bells rang in the Foreign Office many times, but Sharett paid no attention,” he said.
Mapam deputy Moshe Erem warned the government against placing too much faith in the friendship of the western nations. “U.S.-British support of Israel’s demands in relation to Jerusalem is only an outward show of friendship,” he stated.
After the Knesset session most of the members of the Parliament and the Cabinet attended a reception in honor of Daniel Frisch, president of the Zionist Organization of America. Present at the reception, which was tendered by the Jewish Agency, were representatives of all shades of political opinion from the Mapam, on the left, to the Herut, on the right.
Joseph Sprinzak, Speaker of the Knesset, held a reception this morning in honor of a British Labor party six-man delegation, now visiting Jerusalem during its three-week tour of Israel. Mr. Sprinzak voiced the hope that the delegation would convey to the British people its impressions of Israel’s life, development and progress. In reply, Sam Watson, head of the group and British Labor Party chairman, said, “I trust existing misunderstandings between Israel and the British Labor movement will soon be overcome.”
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