Telem (political party)
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Telem (Hebrew: תל”ם) was a political party in Israel.
[edit] Name
As is the case with many political parties in Israel, Telem is an acronym, standing for Tenoa'a le-Hitkhadshut Mamlakhtit (Hebrew: תנועה להתחדשות ממלכתית), translated as Movement for National Renewal.
[edit] Background
Telem was formed during the ninth Knesset by Moshe Dayan. Dayan had been elected to the Knesset as an MK for the Alignment, which had lost the election for the first time in its history. Menachem Begin formed a coalition including his Likud party, the National Religious Party, Agudat Israel and Dash. However, he also invited Dayan to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Despite being a member of the Alignment, Begin's political rivals, Dayan accepted the post, resulting in his expulsion from his own party.
After sitting as an independent MK for some time, Dayan formed Telem together with Igael Hurvitz and Zalman Shoval who had previously broken away from Likud to form Rafi – National List. They were later joined by Shafik Asaad, who had left Akhva (Asaad had started the Knesset session as a member of Dash, then joined the Democratic Movement before moving to Akhva). When Dayan gave up his position as Foreign Minister in 1979, Hurvitz became Finance Minister.
The party won two seats in the 1981 elections, taken by Dayan and Mordechai Ben-Porat, and was invited to join the governing coalition with Ben-Porat becoming Minister Without Portfolio. When Dayan died on 16 October, 1981, he was replaced by Hurvitz. However, the party split up during the course of the session as Ben-Porat created the Movement for the Renewal of Social Zionism and Hurvitz reformed Rafi – National List, which he later renamed Ometz.
