1.
Ext. President's residence
110 ft


Sign: President's office (in Hebrew)



President's Ensing and Israel flag



Int. Ma'arach delegation led by Min. of Labour Bar-Am and Labour Party Secretary Zarmi arrives, President enters room, cutaway shorthand typist, all sit and meeting starts



Ext. The building from outside



Int. "English" statement by Bar-Am


2.
Ext. President's residence in afternoon
90 ft


Likud mission arrives by car



Likud mission enters bldg



Various President enters and greets Likud leader MK Ehrlich, MK Igal



Horowith etall sit down, meeting starts and cut-away stenographer



Ext. The flags on the poles




Initials


Presume UPITN who came only for Likud delegation will dev and have their statement but we more comprehensive with 2 delegations + statement Labour.

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: With Rabin's announcement of his resignation the other night, 2 constitutional possibilities are set in motion according to Israel law: 1) The president of the state will start consultations with party delegations, invited to his residence, whose members will recommend to charge their respective party heads with the forming of a new government, likely to get a Knesset majority and 2) the parties agreeing to have the Knesset enact a law for early elections. Whilst negotiations on the latter going on between the two major parties, namely the Labour and the Likud, and a likely date to be agreed upon, namely May 17th, 1977, the president on his part initiated the aforementioned consultations, which, as everyone knows, will not lead to a solution. Mr. Rabin's minority cabinet will therefore remain a caretaker government without a majority in the Kneset but, as Mr. Rabin announced repeatedly, seeing itself as a fullfledged government for all purposes. This means that Mr. Rabin would go to the USA after January 20th and the government would go to Geneva, should that conference be renewed.-The party representatives are invited to the president according to the seats the party holds in the Knesset and so the "Ma'arakh" Labour were received first whilst in the afternoon representatives of the Likud opposition party saw the president next.