Premier Menachem Begin may be discharged from the hospital during next week, according to a close aide. The aide, citing the Premier’s doctors, said Begin hopefully would be able to chair Cabinet meetings as of next Sunday at his home.
He said Begin was steadily progressing and was now no longer in such agonizing pain as he had been during the first week after his hip fracture and operation Nov. 26.
But for the moment, Deputy Premier Simcha Ehrlich is still serving as acting Premier with Begin himself resting at Hadassah Hospital. Begin transfered power to Ehrlich last Monday, three days after the operation, when he found the pain and discomfort too much for him to be able to function as Premier.
The transfer was formally ratified by the Cabinet (at the Attorney General’s behest) only last Sunday, a procedure that has drawn some press criticism. But the Begin aide said that in practice all the Ministers had been informed of the handover of power the previous Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning.
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