Külügyi Szemle - A Teleki László Intézet Külpolitikai Tanulmányok Központja folyóirata - 2003 (2. évfolyam)
2003 / 1. szám - KÖZEL-KELET - Gazdik Gyula: The evolution of the Israeli party system
Gyula Gazdik Mapai-led governments faced huge tasks with regard to State procedures. All of these tasks had to be resolved in a hostile environment, which had been aggravated between Israel and the Arab states in the 1950s by the ambiguous situation of the nearly one million Palestinian refugees coupled with the consequences of the 1948 war. With respect to the Arab minority, de facto discriminatory laws had been passed in Israel. The political rights of the Arabs had been curtailed and territories inhabited by them remained under military administration until the 1960s. During the tenure of the Labour Party coalition, Israel also participated in the Fran co-British-led aggression against Egypt in 1956 that precipitated the Suez crisis. While the Jewish State scored major military successes in the war - under international duress - the collapse of the venture wiped out all these achievements. The parliamentary domination of the Labour Party suffered a major setback at the 1961 Knesset elections: the party lost 13 mandates. As a result of the ensuing squabble within the party's ranks, Ben-Gurion resigned as Premier in the summer of 1963 and subsequently, from the party. In conjunction with his loyal adherents, the veteran leader established the Israel Labour List /Rafi/ in 1965. In comparison to the programme of the Mapai, the membership of the new party - confident in the Ben- Gurion's authority - introduced changes, including the partial liberalisation of the economy and the modernisation of the social services. Having lost several prominent leaders, the Mapai attempted to consolidate its position by establishing a joint list with the Ahdut HaAvoda - which seceded from the Mapam some time before - under the name of Alignment for the Unity of Israeli Workers /Maarakh/. However, the new alignment found itself in a precarious situation during the middle of the 1960s. Paradoxically, the cleavage led to the reinforcement of the parliamentary position of the Zionist left: by receiving 81 mandates in 1965, the socialist parties reached their „zenith". However, only the Maarakh had been contented among the three groups. Having relied on the charisma of Ben-Gurion - the results proved to be disappointing for the Rafi leadership. Lacking the elaborate infrastructure of the Mapai, the leaders of the bloc, Moshe Dayan and Shimon Peres (1923-), had no choice but to rejoin the Mapai at a suitable point in time. During the interim Knesset elections in 1967, the eruption of the third Arab-Israeli war confirmed their positions in parliament. The occupation of the eastern half of Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and a large part of the Golan Heights had been widely construed as the achievement of the National Unity Government, that also included right wing socialist ministers with diverse political orientations. Despite the enduring cleavage in the party - in order to consolidate their dominant position in parliament - the Mapai, the Ahdut HaAvoda and Rafi joined forces to establish a unique federation in January 1968 under the name of Israeli Workers' Party /Mai/. Hence, Maakh had become the joint list of the Mai and the Mapam alignment. However, this development soon suffered a 38 Külügyi Szemle
