Yemenite Association

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The Yemenite Association (Hebrew: התאחדות התימנים, Hita'akhdot HaTeimanim) was a political party in Israel.

[edit] History

As the name suggests, the Yemenite Association was a party created by Yemenite Jews. It was founded in 1920, and took part in Israel's first elections in 1949. The party crossed the electoral threshold by just 53 votes, winning one seat, which was taken by Zecharia Glosca.

Despite the influx of Yemenite Jews to the country precipitated by Operation Magic Carpet, a mass airlift of Jews into Israel from Yemen in 1949-50, the party failed to attract new voters and again won only one seat in the 1951 elections, though this time the electoral threshold was beaten by over a thousand votes. The party's seat was taken by Shimon Garidi.

During the second Knesset the party was amalgamated into the General Zionists. Garidi later attempted to secede from the General Zionists and recreate an independent Yemenite Association in the Knesset, but his attempts were not recognised by the Knesset speaker.

The party fought the 1955 elections independently, but did not win a seat.

A later merger of the General Zionists and the Progressive Party led to the formation of the Liberal Party, which became the third largest in the Knesset in the 1961 elections. The Liberal Party then merged with Herut to form Gahal, which eventually became Likud.