Prime Minister David Ben Gurion drinks a toast at the Tu Bishvat party, January 31, 1961

Knesset Speaker Kadish Luz:

Members of the Knesset. Tomorrow, on the 15th of Shvat, the Knesset will end its 12th year and, as customary, we will be holding tonight a celebration to mark the event.

Twelve years have passed since the first President of the State, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, opened the first sitting of the First Knesset with his speech, and in which Joseph Shprinzak was elected as Speaker of the Knesset. Everything in the First Knesset carried in it the effect of precedence: The speeches, the composition of the debates, the first bills, the first budget, and the order of procedures. The atmosphere in the Knesset was parallel to that of the State, which was saturated with a revolutionary feeling of political independence.

We have reached the Fourth Knesset equipped with traditional orders and written regulations. We even progressed greatly enough to have contradictions between our procedures and regulations. The work at the Knesset has become a routine of the parliamentary machine. The workload has increased in the committees, while attendance in the plenum in regular sittings is fairly sparse, as seen in veteran parliaments. In contrast, the visitor’s gallery is filled, marking the great interest the Knesset arouses among the public.

Even among foreigners it provokes interest and attention, as many parliamentarians visited this past year in Israel and at the Knesset: A parliamentary delegation from Mexico, groups of senators from Argentina, Liberia, Canada, members of parliaments from Nigeria, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, Guatemala, Great Britain, Greece, Italy. Many visitors of the government, among them heads of governments and ministers, also visited the Knesset.

Knesset delegations visited Mexico and England, as well as a Knesset delegation that took part in the Inter-Parliamentary conference held in Tokyo.

The work at the Knesset has two aspects, similar to every parliament in a democratic state: The political rivalry and the prominence of the ideological contrast, whilst cooperating in the plenum and in particular within the committees. A proper balance between the divergent and the common is a precondition for leading proper parliamentary lives, and as long as the areas of controversy still allow for mutual work – the Knesset continues its work.

Tu Bishvat party, January 31, 1961

I believe that despite the seniority of twelve years, we have among us the feeling of a new creation, and our consciousness of the dangers, difficulties and tasks that obligate cooperation has not faded, in addition to the personal friendly relationships prevailing at the Knesset.

On the day we celebrate the establishment of the Knesset, I wish us all that the differences among us shall always be of a character that the sages referred to as “Differences for the sake of Heaven,” and that it may be a guarantee for the fruitful work done for the State of Israel and the people of Israel.

Members of Knesset, I hereby invite you to a celebration held tonight at nine.

The next sitting of the Knesset – tomorrow at 11. This meeting is adjourned.