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Justice Ministry Preparing Bill to Ease Vote Requirements for East Jerusalem Arabs

March 7, 1968
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
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A bill entitling residents of East Jerusalem to vote in the next municipal elections without furnishing proof of their residency is in preparation by the Government for submission to the Knesset (Parliament), Minister of Justice Y. Shapiro informed the Knesset last night. The voting privilege is restricted to the municipality. Only bona fide citizens of Israel may vote in national elections for the Knesset. Mr. Shapiro said that the Arab municipal counselors of East Jerusalem so far have not been cooperating with the Jerusalem municipality, although they were invited to do so immediately after last June’s Arab-Israel war.

The Ministry of Labor today rejected charges by Mayor Teddy Kollek. of Jerusalem, that bureaucratic red tape was hampering efforts to find employment for East Jerusalem residents and render other needed assistance. The Ministry declared that East Jerusalem, as a part of Israel, was being dealt with in exactly the same way as affairs in other parts of the country are handled. It noted that many measures to assist East Jerusalem residents have been adopted since last June, including the payment of social security.

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