Incomplete consultations among various political parties for the formation of a new Israel Cabinet resulted in another request tonight from Dr. Pinhas Rosen to President Weizmann to extend his Mandate for establishing a new government.
Dr. Rosen reported that his negotiations with the leaders of the various groups may reach a conclusive stage late tonight. He therefore asked President Weizmann to extend his Mandate until tomorrow morning. His authorization was to have expired tonight.
The political committees of both the Mapai and Religious Bloc were in separate session late today. It was considered likely that representatives of both groups will meet tonight to exchange views. Meanwhile, Orthodox leaders were comlaining that David Ben Gurion is rejecting all demands of the Religious Bloc.
Dr. Rosen today pointed out that the Cabinet crisis places the government in a peculiar legal position–“nobody’can dissolve the knesset except the Knesset itself,” He added that he will strongly advise against the disclution of the knesset.
(In London, meanwhile, hope for a compromise in the crisis rose when it was learned that Rabbi Judah L. Maimon, Minister for Religious and top-ranking leader of the Mizrachi, who is on a visit here, spoke with Premier David Ben Gurion by trans-continental telephone. The optimism displayed by Rabbi Maimon during his visit here was reportedly visibly heightened following the telephone conversation. The impression prevailing here is that the area of disagreement between the Mapai and the Religious Bloc has been narrowed considerably.
At a regular meeting today of the dissolved Cabinet, Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett, who returned from the United States yesterday, gave a two-and-a-half hour report on the international situation. The report will be continued at another meeting tomorrow. Mr. Sharett said he might return to Lake Success when the United Nations General Assembly discusses the Jerusalem issue.
U.N. Palestine truce chief Gen. William Riley will leave tomorrow for Lake Success to attend the U.N. Security Council sessions on Jordan’s and Egypt’s complaints against Israel and Israel’s counter-charges against the two Arab states.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
