Tami

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Tami (Hebrew: תמ"י‎, an acronym for Tenoa'a laMesorat Yisrael (Hebrew: תנועה למסורת ישראל), lit Movement for the Heritage of Israel) was a Sephardi-dominated political party in Israel during the 1980s. It was led by Aharon Abuhatssira for its entire existence.

[edit] Background

Tami was founded shortly before the 1981 elections when Minister of Religions and former Mayor of Ramla Aharon Abuhatssira broke away from the National Religious Party after they had failed to stop him from being stripped of his parliamentary immunity and put on trial.

Campaigning on a platform of equality for all citizens regardless of religion, ethnic background, or nationality, Tami won three seats, taken by Abuhatssira, President of Sephardi Federation of Israel and former Mapai and Alignment MK and Minister Aharon Uzan, and another former NRP member, Ben-Zion Rubin. The party were invited into Menachem Begin's coalition government alongside Likud, the National Religious Party, Agudat Israel, Telem and later Tehiya. Abuhatssira was appointed Minister of Labor and Social Welfare and Minister of Immigrant Absorption, but resigned from both positions in May 1982, shortly before the Lebanon War, handing over both positions to Uzan.

The party performed poorly in the 1984 elections, losing many of its voters to the new Sephardic party Shas, and won only one seat, taken by Abuhatssira. It merged into the Likud during the Knesset session and ceased to exist.