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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Israel
Index
As of the late 1980s, the Histadrut (HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel
HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael, General Federation of Laborers in the Land
of Israel) continued to be a major factor in Israeli life as the
largest voluntary organization in the country. It also wielded an
enormous influence on the government's wage policy and labor
legislation, and was influential in political, social, and cultural
realms
(see Distinctive Social Institutions
, ch. 2). The largest
trade union organization, and largest employer in Israel after the
government, the Histadrut has opened its membership to almost all
occupations. Its membership in 1983 was 1,600,000 (including
dependents), accounting for more than one-third of the total
population of Israel and about 85 percent of all wage earners.
About 170,000 Histadrut members were Arabs. Founded in 1920 by
Labor Zionist parties, traditionally it has been controlled by the
Labor Party, but not to the exclusion of other parties
(see Multiparty System
, this ch.). Almost all political parties or their
affiliated socioeconomic institutions were represented in the
organization.
The Histadrut performed functions that were unique to Israeli
society, a legacy of its nation-building role in a wide range of
economic, trade union, military, social, and cultural activities.
Through its economic arm, Hevrat HaOvdim (Society of Workers), the
Histadrut operated numerous economic enterprises and owned and
managed the country's largest industrial conglomerates. It owned
the country's second largest bank (Bank HaPoalim) and provided the
largest and most comprehensive system of health insurance and
medical and also operated hospital services. In addition, it
coordinated the activities of domestic labor cooperative movements,
and through its International Department, as well as organizations
such as the Afro-Asian Institute, it maintained connections with
labor movements in other countries.
Israeli political parties have regularly contested elections to
the Histadrut Conference (Veida), held every four years. They also
have contested elections to the National Labor Council and to the
country's seventy-two local labor councils. Voting results in these
elections have often paralleled or preceded trends in parliamentary
and municipal elections.
The Histadrut Conference elects a General Council and an
Executive Committee. The committee in turn elects a forty-three
member Executive Bureau, which administers day-to-day policy. The
Histadrut's secretary general, its most powerful official, is
elected by the Executive Committee. As in the past, in late 1988
the Histadrut's secretary general, Israel Kaissar, was a Labor
Party leader and a member of its Knesset delegation.
Data as of December 1988
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