Acting Premier Moshe Sharett last night announced in Parliament the release of the last 16 of 56 persons detained persons detained several weeks ago following the smashing of the religious underground movement Brit Kanaim for allegedly plotting to blow up the Parliament. Mr. Sharett said that only 13 of the arrested men will face trial.
Meanwhile, in the midst of a Parliamentary free-for-all, a Mapam resolution censuring “religious fanatics for endeavoring to impose religious rules on the state” was adopted. The Mapam motion was passed after one introduced by the Religious Bloc calling on the Knesset not to force the issue of whether it had the power to issue orders to the government on administrative matters was carried. This represented a reversal of the Knesset’s decision of last week, in which the Orthodox bloc concurred, and brought about the Mapam’s anti-Religious Bloc move.
The Religious Bloc resolution also carried a second part which called for the early trial of all religious underground members against whom the government had evidence and the immediate release of all other detainees. The Acting Premier’s announcement took the wind out of the sails of the Orthodox parties on this matter. However, the Knesset appointed a seven-man committee to investigate Orthodox charges of police brutality against the detained Brit Kanaim members.
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