Israel's Labor Party; Personalities and Issues
Moshe Ron, The Jewish News
special Tel Aviv correspondent, in
an analysis of the deliberations
at the Israel Labor Party con-
ference two weeks ago, describes
how Pinhas Sapir has emerged as
the unquestioned leader of the
laborites in Israel. He reports that
David Ben-Gurion was the true
"star" at the opening of the ses-
sions and he comments on the
decline in power of the Rafi and
Ahdut Avoda parties. The speech-
es of Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan,
Abba Eban and Israeli Galili are
described as having been "very
sharp." In his report he states:
"Almost everything at the con-
ference went according to plan and
if something unexpected suddenly
occurred, the organizers immedi-
ately turned to the "boss" of the
conference, Finance Minister Pin-
has Sapir, who sent in the chair-
man of the permanent commission,
Israel Yeshayahu, and Knesset
members Moshe Carmel and Abra-
ham Ofer, to put out the fire . . .
Such was the case in 'the question
of a separation between religion
and state. Minister of Justice Jacob
Shimshon Shapiro appealed to
Prime Minister Golda Meir to
exercise her influence in order to
remove this delicate question from
the agenda of the conference, in
order to avoid tension in the gov
ernment with the National Reli-
gious Party.
"Other problems appeared in the
course of the conference. Repre-
sentatives of Oriental Jews de-
demanded that a third of them be
coopted in the newly-elected party
leadership. This question was
solved by the intervention of
party leaders, who also wished to
avoid a confrontation at the con-
ference between Sapir and the
general secretary of Histadrut,
Yitzhak Ben-Aharon, about the
poverty of some sections of the
population. It was decided that the
party conference would not deal
with Histadrut problems and that
these should be discussed in a
later special session.
"Academicians, youngsters, wom-
en, old party members, leaders of
the former Ahdut Avoda and Rafi
groups, representatives of Haifa,
demanded a certain number of
representatives in the new central
committee. The new committee,
which was originally planned for
501 members, had to be increased
to 601 members. Under the con-
trol of the party 'boss,' Pinhas
Sapir, all old, distinguished mem-
bers of the party were put into the
new committee, such as Yitzhak
Tobemkin, Rachel Yanait, Eliahu
Sasson, Abraham Harzfeld, Beba
Idelson, David Hacohen.
"The former Ahdut Avoda and
Rafi groups played an inferior role
at the conference. They were weak-
ened by the outcome of the first
elections in the party. In the new
central committee, 401 former
Mapai members were elected
(67.2 per cent instead of 57 per
cent in the former committee), 115
former members of Ahdut Avoda
(19.2 per cent instead of 2L5 per
cent), and 82 former members of
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Rafi (13.6 per cent instead of 21.5
per cent). This shows that the
phwer and influence of the former
Mapai group has greatly increased.
"Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, Abba
Eban and Israel Gailili voiced
strong speeches at the conference.
The so-called 'doves' in the party
did not state their position in the
political debate, although they
master the majority at the con-
ference under the leadership of
Sapir. The reasons for the strong
speeches were to balance the war
speeches of Egyptian President
Sadat and Foreign Minister Riyad
(who one day declare they are
ready to sign a peace treaty with
Israel under certain conditions and
the next day declare that they will
never recognize the state of Is-
rael), and to prove to them that
Israel, although it strives for
peace, will never accept the Egyp-
tian ultimate peace terms.
"The group of Pinhas Sapir (the
doves) had sensed the atmosphere
at the conference and did not wish
to stir up a crisis on the political
subject. When Knesset member,
Abraham Ofer, tried to argue with
the statement made by Moshe
Dayan, his speech was interrupted
by angry shouts. Sapir refrained
from touching political aspects in
his speech, and only referred to
economic and social problems.
"The strong political speeches
of the leaders of the Labor Party
at the conference have damaged
the prestige of the Gahal bloc, and
its leader, Menahem Begin. They
excepted a crowd of 10,000 people
at their open air meeting in Tel
Aviv against the withdrawal from
the occupied territories, but hardly
3,000 took part.
"At the opening ceremony of the
conference at `Binyanei Haooma'
in Jerusalem, the most honored
guest was David Ben-Gurion. When
he entered the hall, 3,000 delegates
rose and cheered the veteran lead-
er for several minutes. It was a
certain indemnity for B-G, who
had been compelled to leave the
Mapai Party a few years ago, un-
der tragic circumstances. Now he
was the honorary guest of the party
conference.
"Pinhas Lavon, who had also
been invited to the conference,
could not attend for health reasons.
He has not compromised with party
leaders, who 10 years ago were
responsible for his dismissal as
general-secretary of the Histadrut.
"The conference was under the
spell of Dayan's speech. He and
Golda Meir were certainly the
`stars' of the conference."
Israel to Get Same
Share of U.S. Aid
in Fiscal '72 Budget
WASHINGTON (JTA) — No
change has been made in the mili-
tary sales credit allocated for
Israel in the fiscal 1972 budget for
U.S. foreign assistance programs
presented to Congress by President
Nixon.
Israel will share to an undis -
closed extent in the $510,000,000 in
military credits earmarked for all
countries during fiscal 1972. The
total aid budget amounts to $3,300,--
000,000. -
The Jes:ish Telegraphic Agency
has learned that all of the $500,- -
000,000 in military sales credits
authorized for Israel under the
Jackson amendment to the 1971
foreign military sales act has
been committed.
Expenditures of about $375,000,-
000 will have been made by the end
of the current fiscal year on June
30. The balance of about $125,000,-
000 will be spent during fiscal 1972.
Sen. Henry M. Jackson, author
of the amendment, has criticized
the new credits available for Israel
in fiscal '72 as being too low.
The exact size of the allocation
is classified. Sen. Jack-son may
know the figure or he may feel
simply that Israel's needs cannot
be met if it has to share $510,000,-
000 with all other nations receiving
U.S. military sales credit. Supple-
mental military credits to Israel
would require special legislation
by Congress.
The Jackson amendment, adopt-
ed last December, was described
as "open-ended." That meant there
was no time limit on the $500,000,-
000 expenditure. But the last of the
money will be used during fiscal
1972.
School Voucher Plan Hit
WASHINGTON — The American
Jewish Congress Tuesday told the
Senate Committee on Labor and
Public Welfare that the "Jencks
Plan" for education vouchers
"would do nothing for those who
need it most" and urged that the
Office of Economic Opportunity
be barred from supporting "any
version of the voucher plan."
It warned that the voucher plan
"would impair two vital aspects
of our system of democracy—pub-
licly financed, publicly controlled
schools and separation of church
and state."
,1•60.4.:htiati,,,,t,r,,,C 4'7,14 !
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
14—Friday, April 30, 1971
Israel Observes Heroes, Holocaust Memorial Day
TEL AVIV (JTA)—The city was two - minute siren alert for all citizens
in virtual darkness recently as to observe two minutes of silence
lights were dimmed in the streets, in memory of the Six Million.
public places, cafes and movie
theaters in observance of Holocaust
and Heroes Memorial Day.
Flags in all army units and in-
Fertilizing, Power Raking
stallations were lowered to half-
Lawn Maintenance
staff, and special memorial meet-
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ings and services were conducted
throughout the country.
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