Coalition Govt. Faces Up to Two Threats
From Militant Gahal, Religious Bloc
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Premier
Golda Meir's 24-member national
unity coalition government demon-
strated over the weekend that it is
able to withstand serious stresses
and strains from within.
Two threats to coalition unity
that emerged last week were taken
in stride by the majority Labor
alignment. These came from the
Gahal (Herut-Liberal) faction, the
voice of militant nationalism in the
cabinet, and from the National
Religious Party, representing the
Orthodox religious establishment,
which threatened to quit the coali-
tion unless it got its way on the
issue of conversions.
The Gahal threat was, in the long
run, the more serious. It is Israel's
second largest political party.
When it refused to endorse Premier
Meir's political report to the Knes-
set last Tuesday, many observers
saw a cabinet crisis in the offing.
Gahal took exception to Mrs.
Meir's implied acceptance of the
United Nations Security Council's
Nov. 22, 1967 resolution which calls
for Israeli withdrawal from the
occupied Arab territories in return
for a peace undertaking by the
Arabs. But the report was adopted
by a Knesset vote of 33-6 with 19
abstentions, including Gahal's.
Foreign Minister Abba Eban
and others, responding to the
interparty calls to eliminate
Gahal from the coalition, point-
ed to the vote as an indication
that the Labor majority is still
the decisive influence in the
cabinet. Eban said Gahal did not
exercise leverage over the Labor
Party and endorsed continuation
of the broadest possible coalition.
Eban clarified Monday Israel's
the UN cease-fire resolution. He
drawal from the occupied terri-
the resolution. Withdrawal and
dicated in the Knesset, are part
attitude towards the provisions of
said the matter of Israeli with-
tories was simply one element of
other points of contention, he in-
of the package to be negotiated
following a peace agreement, not
concessions to be made prior to
such an agreement.
Eban, who made his comments
in reply to a question from pro-
Moscow Arab Communist MK
Tewfik Toubi, said that "only one
issue can be singled out at the
present early stage"—the refugee
problem. Since any plan for the
refugees' resettlement and reha-
bilitation would take years to
effect, Eban explained, Israel
would be amenable to deliberating
that issue prior to agreement with
the Arabs on the overall peace
package under the cease- fire
resolution.
Replying to a question from
anti - Moscow Communist MK
Moshe Sneh, the foreign mini-
ster stated that "Israel unre-
servedly supports the establish-
ment of a mutual and unrestrict-
ed cease-fire line." But he added
that there appeared to be no
serious prospects for a reduction
in arms deliveries to the Mid-
dle East in light of what he
termed the arming of the Arabs
by the Soviet Union and other
countries.
Deputy Premier Yigal Allon, ad-
dressing the Press Club in Tel
Aviv, said no consequences should
be drawn from Gahal's apparent
breach of coalition unity although
he conceded that their abstention
jeopardized the image of national
unity in political affairs.
Some Labor Party 'doves" pro-
fessed to be pleased with Gahal's
action. One party official said
"Without this demonstrative ab-
stention" the premier's speech
"might have gone unnoticed"
abroad. According to their view.
Mrs. Meir's reference to the 1967
resolution and her mention of
"Rhodes type talks" with the
Arabs were the result of American
persuasion to take a more flexible
line. According to foreign ministry
sources, international reaction to
Mrs. Meir's Knesset report was
very favorable, particularly in
Western chancelleries.
On Monday, she dissociated her-
self from what she described as
several "misinterpretations" of the
policy speech she delivered in the
Knesset. In addition to her refer-
ence to the Nov. 22 1967 resolution,
Mrs. Meir said that the establish-
ment of Jewish settlements in the
occupied areas did not mean lay-
ing down "irrevocable conditions"
prior to peace talks with the
Arabs.
(Mrs. Meir did not dissociate
herself from either of those re-
marks. But she did deny that
she had implied that Israel
would take the initiative to have
the UN's special peace envoy,
Ambassador Gunnar V. Jarring,
resume his mission in the Mid
East, Nevertheless, Mrs. Meir
made it clear that Israel would
Jarring
co-operate with Dr.
should he decide to resume his
peace-seeking task.
(Mrs. Meir did not say directly
that Israel accepts the resolution
but she rejected Arab charges that
Israel opposes it. She referred tu
a statement by Israel's UN envoy,
Ambassador Yosef Tekoah, that Is-
rael accepted the resolution. Am-
bassador Tekoah's statement is
given much greater weight here
now that the Knesset has endorsed
Mrs. Meir's speech in which she
referred to it.)
On the issue of conversions, the
Labor Party has made it clear that
it has no intention of giving in to
NRP demands that it push a new
law through the Knesset that would
declare invalid conversions to Juda-
ism made in Israel by non-Ortho-
dox rabbis.
Deputy Premier Allan declared
in his Press Club talk that the La-
bor Party would not hold discus-
sions with the NRP under the
threat of an ultimatum. The NRP
executive committee voted last
Thursday to leave the cabinet un-
less labor initiated the kind of
legislation it wants.
Labor Party Minister-Without-
Portfolio Israel Galili, addressing
the party secretariate, ruled out
"any further concessions" to the
NRP. He said that if the religious
bloc wanted to leave the coalition
on that issue, the Labor alignment
was "ready to run the government
in accordance with the election re-
sults."
The issue came to a head over
the case of Mrs. Helen Zeidman,
an American-born Israeli who
was converted to Judaism by a
Reform rabbi in Tel Aviv. She
is suing the government for reg-
istration as a Jew. The Israel
Supreme Court has given the
NRP interior minister, Moshe
Shapiro, 19 days to decide
whether to comply with Mrs.
Zeldman's request.
The state attorney general set a
precedent last week by refusing to
oppose the court's order nisi
against the interior ministry.
Premier Meir met with NRP min-
isters to discuss the issue but no
conclusions were reached. Mean-
while the NRP has modified its
threat to leave the coalition. They
claimed that such action would not
necessarily mean leaving the gov-
ernment. They would relinquish
their three ministerial portfolios—
interior, welfare and religious
affairs. But they would continue to
hold on to their lower echelon posts
in the defense and foreign minis-
tries.
In a cablegram sent to Premier
Golda Meir, religious leaders of
Reform Judaism in the U.S. and
abroad expressed deep concern
over the "unseemly threat" to Is-
rael's coalition government by the
Orthodox National Religious Party.
The cable, signed by Rabbi Mau-
rice N. Eisendrath, president of
the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations; Rabbi Roland B.
Gittelsohn, president of the Central
Conference of American Rabbis;
and Rabbi Jacob K. Shankman,
president of the World Union for
Progressive Judaism, which is the
international arm of Reform Juda-
ism, stated in part:
"It is astounding that the Na-
tional Religious Party, should be
so exercised over one conversion
that at this critical juncture it
would threaten the dissolution of
the coalition government and jeo-
pardize the unity of the Jewish
people. We are especially dismay-
ed by reports that legislation will
be proposed to oppose registration
as Jews of all such converts in the
future. It is totally incongruous
for the state to recognize conver-
sion performed by non-Orthodox
rabbis abroad and then to dis-
qualify the conversion of those
same rabbis after they responded
to the call of aliya."
The three Reform rabbis urged
the government not to "com-
promise away the right of the ma-
jority to a small vocal minority
who have once again demonstrated
that petty vested interests take pre-
cedence over their sense of respon-
sibility to the Jewish peqple as a
whole."
Uzis Aiding Sudan Rebels Against Arab Govt.?
NEW YORK (ZINS)—Newsweek,
an American weekly news maga-
zine, reports that Israel is send-
ing arms to the Sudanese Negroes
who are in revolt against their
Arab government. European tour-
ists report that the rebels are
armed with Israeli Uzis.
No one is certain how these
weapons have reached the Suda-
nese. Newsweek believes that the
rebels are being helped by a num-
ber of military advisers from
Israel who are stationed in Ugan-
da, a country neighboring the
Sudan. According to Newsweek,
Israel supports the Sudanese rebels
because the government there is
backing Nasser and the Arab war
against Israel.
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