MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Israel
Index
Labor Party
Figure 11. Evolution of Political Parties, 1948-88 Simplified
November 1988 election flyer of the Young Guard faction
of the Labor Party. The flag reads "Annexed!"
Until 1977 Mapai and the Labor Party dominated the political
scene. Labor became Israel's dominant party as a result of its
predecessors' effective and modernizing leadership during the
formative prestate period (1917-48). The Labor Party
(see
Appendix B) resulted in 1968 from the merger of Mapai, Ahdut
HaAvoda (Unity of Labor--see
Appendix B), and Rafi
(see fig. 11). In addition,
shortly before the 1969 elections an electoral Alignment (Maarakh)
occurred between Labor and the smaller Mapam Party. Although the
two parties retained their organizational independence, they shared
a common slate in elections to the Knesset, the Histadrut, and
local government offices. The Alignment lasted until 1984.
Labor's political dominance broke down, particularly following
the June 1967 War, when the party split over its leaders' inability
to reach a consensus concerning the future of the West Bank, the
Gaza Strip, and the Sinai Peninsula; there was agreement only on
the need to retain the Golan Heights to ensure strategic depth
against Syria. Later, the October 1973 War dealt a blow to public
confidence in Labor from which its leadership was unable to
recover. The war also exacerbated a number of crises confronting
the party such as those concerning leadership succession. Although
the party survived the Knesset elections of December 31, 1973, with
a slightly reduced plurality, the war led to the resignation of
Prime Minister Meir's government on April 10, 1974. The new
leadership team of Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, and Yigal Allon,
which assumed power in June 1974, proved unable to govern
effectively or to resolve major issues such as the future of the
occupied territories. Following its electoral defeat in the 1977
Knesset elections, the Labor Party provided the principal
opposition to Likud in the elections of 1981, 1984, and 1988. In
the 1988 Knesset elections, the Labor Party, despite its efforts to
present a revived platform advocating territorial compromise,
gained only thirty-nine seats, down from forty-four in 1984.
In 1988 the dominant personalities in Labor, in addition to
Peres and Rabin, included former president Yitzhak Navon, former
IDF Chief of Staff Moredechai Gur, and former Likud Defense
Minister Ezer Weizman, who joined Labor in preparation for the 1984
elections. Labor's biggest problem in the 1980s has been the
gradual decline in its electoral support among growing segments in
the electorate, notably Orientals and the young.
Data as of December 1988
|
|