United Religious Front
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The United Religious Front (Hebrew: חזית דתית מאוחדת, Hazit Datit Meukhedet) was a political party in Israel.
[edit] History
Not strictly a political party in the usual sense, the United Religious Front was a grouping of all the religious parties that campaigned for the 1949 election, the first after independence, on a single list. It contained Mizrakhi, the Mizrakhi Workers, Agudat Israel and Agudat Israel Workers.
In the 1949 elections the list won 16 seats, making it the third largest in the Knesset. It joined David Ben Gurion's Mapai party in forming the coalition of the first government of Israel, alongside the Progressive Party, the Sephardim and Oriental Communities and the Democratic List of Nazareth.
However, the grouping created problems in the governing coalition due to its differing attitide to education in the new immigrant camps and the religious education system. They also demanded that Ben Gurion close the Supply and Rationing Ministry and appoint a businessman as Minister for Trade and Industry. As a result, Ben Gurion resigned on 15 October, 1950.
After the differences were resolved, Ben Gurion formed the second government on 1 November, 1950, with the United Religious Front retaining their place in the coalition.
After elections were called for the second Knesset in 1951, the grouping disbanded into its individual parties who fought the election separately.
