Evening star., 1961-08-16
Seats AreLOst
ByBen-GuriOn
In Israeli Vote

Party appeared to have lost I
five seats in Parliament today
but remained ISrael's dorni-
nant party and the backbone
of the next government.
With about three-fourths Of !
the votes counted in yester-
days Parliament elections, the
trends pointed toward another
coalition cabinet headed by /
Mr.. Ben-Gurion.
The Prime Minister, who
waited out the vote count at
his desert home at Sdeh Boxer,
hailed the results as a victory
for his party despite setbacks
in seats lost to the new Liberal
Party. Mr.. Ben-Gurion Luar-
relied bitterly with the liberals
because an American came
from New York to campaign |
for them.
To Form New Cabinet
Mr.. Ben-Gurion IS expected
to form another cabinet made
up of the Mapai. the liberal
party and possibly religious
and left-wing labor parties.
The combination would give
him a majority in the 100
me mber Knesset Parlia-
ment).
But Mr.. Ben-Gurion charged
that at is catastrophe for Is
rael that the election results
have not made possible a
change in the electoral system,
but on the contrary have deep
ened political II divisions"
Israeli law requires an abb
solute majority Of 81 per cent
in the KneSset CParliament) for
consideration Of electoral
changes. The Mapai advocates
switching from the present pro-
portional representation to di-
rect voting for party candidates.
LavOn Affair Cited
Mr.. Ben-Gurion's efforts to
block former Defense Minister
Pinhas Lavon from succeeding
him when he retires, high taxes
and the cost of living, all were
cited as factors in Mapai losses.
The 74-year-old Prime Minis
ter's resignation last January
forced the election as a result
of the so-called "Lavon Al
fair"
Of the $4,000 votes counted
in Yesterdays election, these
were the totals so far and the
likely distribution Of KnesSet
seats:
Mapai 3O5,OOO - AZ seats
(down 81; Liberals (merger OF
progresslves and slightly more
conservative General ZioniStS)
121,O00-16 or II seats Cup 2 or
81; Heruth (extreme right Ma
tionalist)-118,000 or 16 seats
(no change National Religious
Front 122,000-11 seats (doWn
one). II
The left-wing labor party
Mapam showed a slight in
crease, mastering $4,000 votes.
Reds Gain 2 Seats
Communists increased their
deputies from three to five.
Minor parties will share the
remaining seats.
The Mapai percentage OF the
vote dropped from 1872 in 1859
to 34.4, while the Liberals in
creased to 1876 from the 1917
polled by it's predecessors, the
ProgresSives and Zionist Party.
Election officials said 1876
per cent of the more than
1,25O,O0O eligible voters turned
out in the humid, 100-degree
weather. Most of them voted
for the democratic parties with
Western political leaningS and
liberal welfare policies that
have run IsraePs government
since the Jewish nation
emerged in 1948
Only minor disturbances were
reported. One involved the
vote of a Bedouin woman who
arrived at the polls with her
husband and her brother.
The husband demanded she
be prevented from voting in
accordance with ancient Arab
custom relegating women to a
Subservient place. The brother
contended times had changed.
The men had a brief but sharp
scuffle that sent both of them
to the hospital. While they
fought, the woman voted.
American Campaigns
Most of the heat in the
campaign was generated by
DR.. Nahum Go1dmann, presi-
dent of the World Zionist Or
ganization and a naturaliZed
American, who cam. -.lgned
for the Liberals. He called Mr.. !
Ben-Gurion's foreign policy
destructive and urged Israel to
improve its relations with jew
ish communities in other ma
tionS.
Mr.. Ben-Gurion and other
Mapai m EN- berS contended |
Mr.. Goldmann, as a non-citi- |
zen, had no right to campaign |
and question government pol
ices.
The Lavon affair was rarely
mentioned during the cam
paign, and Mr.. Lavon kept
silent. He was forced out of
the cabinet in 1855 and ac-
cused of ordering a military
venture that failed. Mr.. Ben
Gurion resigned when a cabi-
net committee exonerated the
younger man. Details of the
military venture have been
kept under censorship.