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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, January 27, 1961 —

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Ben-Gurion Retraction Ends Cabinet Crisis over Lavon

JERUSALEM, (JTA) — The
Cabinet phase of the dispute
between Prime Minister David
Ben-Gurion and Histadrut Sec-
retary-General Pinhas Lavon,
which for a month threatened
the fall of Israel's coalition
Government, has come to an
end.
The solution of the crisis
came when the Cabinet re-
ceived a letter from the Prime
Minister in which Israel's elder
statesman reiterated that he re-
gards the decision of a seven-
man Ministerial committee—
which exonerated Lavon of re-
sponsibility for the 1954 se-
curity mishap in a report on
December 25 — as "the last
word." The Ministerial com-
mittee was composed of repre-
sentatives of six parties, includ-
ing two from Ben-Gurion's own
Mapai party.
Ben-Gurion had challenged
the Ministerial committee's re-
port. He said that the report
led to "half-truths, bias and
miscarriage of justice." Because
these statements were inter-

preted as tantamount to non-
confidence in his own Cabinet
members, there were threats of
resignations by some members
of the Cabinet, while B en-
Gurion himself had his letter
of resignation ready for sub-
mission to President Izhak
Ben-Zvi.
Ben-Gurion's letter of retrac-
tion, accepting the Ministerial
committee's decision on the
Lavon case as "the last word,"
was read to the Cabinet by
Minister of Justice Pinhas
Rosen, chairman of the seven-
man Ministerial committee. The
Cabinet "took note" of the new
Ben-Gurion letter—and t h e
crisis was resolved.
In his general apology,
Ben-Gurion publicly gave up
his demand for a new investi-
gation of the Lavon affair.
He said: "The Government
has a free hand, as far as I
am concerned, to take or ab-
stain from taking further
steps in the matter and I will
not intervene one way or
another."

(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)

hak Haskin, former Histadrut
treasurer and now head of the
membership and dues depart-
ment.
Their resignations were de-
livered to the Mapai. Secretariat
meeting in Jerusalem Monday
night.
The three Mapai members of
the Histadrut Central Commit-
tee said in their resignation
letters that they had lost con-
fidence in Lavon and could
therefore no longer work under
his leadership.

•
Lavon Claims Histadrut Leaders
Quit to Force His Resignation

TEL AVIV — Pinhas Lavon
charged Tuesday that the resig-
nations of three Histadrut of-
ficials had been planned in
advance to force his resignation
as secretary general of Israel's
Labor Federation and he reiter-
ated that he would not resign.
Those resigning were Mrs.
Yehudit Simhoni, head of the
Histadrut foreign relations de-
partment; Zev Onn, head of the
economic department; and Yitz-

German Officials Defend Globke
on Charge He Acted Against Jews

BONN, (JTA) — West German
officials rallied to the defense
of Dr. Hans Globke, State Sec-
retary and aide to Chancellor
Adenauer, who was the official
commentator on the Nuremberg
anti-Jewish laws of 1935.
A criminal investigation of
Globke's Nazi activities is now
being conducted by the Frank-
furt prosecutor's office. A Gov-
ernment spokesman confirmed
that Dr. Fritz Schaeffer, West
German Justice Minister, was
informed last Sept. 5 that a
preliminary investigation had
been opened against Globke by
the Frankfurt prosecution of-
fice.
In connection with that probe,
Christian Democratic U n i on
party members accused Hessian
State Attorney General Fritz
Bauer with having violated
Globke's civil rights by alleged-
ly informing the press about the
investigation before notifying
Globke and Chancellor Aden-
auer.
The Frankfurt office refused
to give any details of the in-
vestigation but it was believed
the probe was connected with
charges by Dr. Max Merton,
former Nazi wartime adminis-
trator in Greece, that Globke,
as a former Ministry of the
Interior official, prevented the
liberation of 10,000 Greek Jews
in 1943.
Merten, who served a prison
term on conviction of war
crimes by a Greek tribunal,
charged that Adolf Eichmann,
the S.S. colonel who imple-
mented the extermination of
the 6,000,000 European Jews,
had consented to the transport
of the 10,000 Jews to Palestine.
Globke • has denied the charge
that he prevented them from
leaving Greece.
Evidence purportedly impli-
cating Globke in overt anti-
Semitic activities during the
Hitler regime was presented to
the state prosecutor in Frank-
furt last week by two East Ger-

The efforts to work out a
settlement through such a let-
ter were led by Finance Minis-
ter Levi Eshkol who first per-
suaded the Prime Minister not
to submit his letter of resigna-
tion. Eshkol then invited Jus-
tice Minister Rosen and Minis-
ter of the Interior Moshe Sha-
piro of Mizrachi, to meet with
the Prime Minister.
Scores of Hebrew University
students staged a "defense of
democracy" demonstration on
the university campus in pro-
test against the tactics of the
Prime Minister's supp or t e r s
against Lavon. The students
carried posters bearing slogans
similar to the theme of the
declaration signed by a large
number of Israeli intellectuals
which warned the Prime Minis-
ter's supporters that their anti-
Lavon campaign might lead to
autocratic rule in Israel.
The Prime Minister himself,
during his meeting with Eshkol,
Rosen and Shapiro reportedly
said the intellectuals were do-
ing him an injustice in present-
ing him as a "threat. to
democracy."
But while the Cabinet
crisis, is now over, the Prime
Minister still faces a fight in-
side his own Mapai party on
his demand that Lavon either
resign from the secretary-
generalship of Histadrut, or
be fired from that post as
chief executive of Israel's
Federation of Labor.

The Mapai crisis sharpened
last week after Lavon sent a
letter to each member of the
Mapai secretariat, criticizing a
decision to set up a party com-
mittee to examine the Lavon
case.
Two of the Cabinet members
named by Mapai to that com-
mittee—Foreign Minister Golda
Meir and Minister of Police
Behor Shitreet — have refused
to serve.
Lavon has made it clear—
first in the letter which he
wrote to the members of the
Mapai secretariat, then in an
interview—that he will not
resign. "If the party decides
it has no confidence in me,"
he stated, "that is a different
matter. But I am not
to resign."
- His oppos
o the pro-
posed Ma
robe, the His:
tadrut
dal declared, was
based
his feeling t
would
"one-sided." Fur
more,
insisted, the
would
held "at pist
since
-Gurion ha •
iste •
that th
•vestigation be
fished in
am
ready for any investigation," he
said, "but not for a one-sided
one to appease the Premier."
Following these develop-
ments, the Mapai secretariat,
after an arduous all-day meet-
ing, reaffirmed the previous de-
cision for the formation of a
five-member study committee
to probe the Lavon case, but

lifted the three-week deadline.
This was considered a victory
for Lavon.

B-G EXTENDS VACATION

(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)

JERUSALEM — Prime Minis-
ter David Ben-Gurion will ex-
tend his vacation, which was

originally set for six weeks and
which was to have ended next
week. He announced Tuesday
that he will not return to his
desk before the end of Febru-
ary.
It was reported that the vaca-
tion period had been extended
because the Prime Minister ac-
tually began his rest period
only last week.
e Minister an-
cation in terms
of an ultimatu to his cabinet
to reverse a v of approval
for a minister' committe re-
por clearing on. He threat-
turn from his
eV
cabinet stuck to
vote. He started
v acation only after he
to give up his demand
a reversal of the cabinet
vote and thus ended a threat-
ened cabinet crisis.

here no
wh's
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man, Communist prosecutors.
Globke, who has never denied
having worked with the Nazi
regime as a legal expert, has
always claimed that he only
wrote a "commentary" on the
Nuremberg Laws, the Hitler
code of racist, anti-Semitic prac-
tices adopted by the Nazi
stag in 1935. The to
Dr. Adenauer has
and in
ever, that he h
lementation
the draftin
erg Laws.
of the
ence, consisting of
In- this
photost
copies of documents
which
y said have recently
been
scovere at Po
the
munist osecut
the
ound p
"ha helped rat th
be
m
att
be
Hit
Inte

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of Justice ically
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the Nuremberg race laws of the
Nazi regime. A Ministry spokes-
man said that documents were
in existence to prove that
Globke "had nothing to do with
the persecution of the Jews.
Jewish organizations and indi-
viduals have said that Dr.
Globke helped them during the
Nazi _period."
The spokesman also said that
documents given by East Ger-
man officials to Bauer, against
Globke, did not reveal anything
new. "It is not even certain
that they are genuine," he said,
adding that "if they are, the
conclusions drawn from them
are definitely wrong."

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