Ruling on Israeli dig site expected to shake regime

The fragile government of Prime Minister Menachem Begin faced new pressures Monday after the attorney general overturned an edict by the Jewish state's chief rabbi concerning an archaelogical dig here. He ruled that Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren had no power to ban the controversial archaeological dig at a site which ultraorthodox Jews say is an ancient Jewish cemetery.

the dispute appeared likely to send reverberations through the Begin government because of the enhanced political power won by religious parties in the June election. Political sources said religious leaders would press for the honoring of a Begin pledge to pass a law giving rabbis power to ban desecration of Jewish graves.