Transport Minister Quits Israel Cabinet; Economic Policy Involved

Yitzhak Ben-Aharon, Minister of Transport, resigned from the Israeli Cabinet today. His resignation was announced by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, who told the Government that he received a letter to that effect from Mr. Ben-Aharon. But the Cabinet deferred action on the letter until next week, while Mr. Ben-Gurion said he will try to dissuade Mr. Ben-Aharon from going through with his planned exit from the Government.

While, officially, Mr. Ben-Aharon gave his reason for quitting the Cabinet as “personal,” informed sources here insist his move was prompted by his “disappointment” with the manner in which the Government plans to implement its new economic policy, and criticism of that policy voiced in his own party, the leftist Ahdut Avoda.

Meanwhile, in the Cabinet, Minister of Agriculture Moshe Dayan reported on the Government’s new economic policy, developed as a result of the devaluation of the Israeli pound last February. Mr. Dayan said that Israel’s farmers can provide food “at reasonable prices.” While beef and certain fruits are in short supply here, compared with the European consumer market, he said, the Israeli farmer can make up the shortage by providing more poultry and eggs. The earning gap between the Israeli worker and farmer, he said, ranges between two percent and 15 percent. But, the Minister of Agriculture declared, he hopes this differential may be bridged in the near future.

The Government has been wrestling with plans to implement a new economic policy since it devalued the Israeli pound, last February. One plan, being advanced by Finance Minister Levi Eshkol, is to implement compulsory savings to “soak up” higher cost-of-living allowances to be paid Israeli workers beginning next July. Ahdut Avoda objects to Mr.Eshkol’s plans.