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 It's Nice To Deal With Joe Slatkin's DEXTER CHEVROLET 20811 W. 8 Mile between Southfield & Telegraph 534-1400 Our Promise To You: BETTER SERV10E! • 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. 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