List of political parties in Israel

Israel

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Israel's political system is based on proportional representation which allows for a multi-party system with numerous parties. Although there are three major parties, a single party usually has no chance of gaining power by itself, forcing the parties to cooperate and form coalition governments. This article lists the political parties in Israel.

Contents 1 Naming convention 1.1 Parties known by their English name 1.2 Parties known by their Hebrew name 1.3 Parties known by their Hebrew/Arabic acronym 1.4 Exceptions 2 Current parties 2.1 Parties represented in the current Knesset 2.2 Other parties 2.3 Minor political parties 3 New parties 4 Former parties 5 Name changes 6 Zionist youth movements 7 See also 8 External links

Naming convention

In the English-language media some parties are known by their Hebrew name, whilst others have their names translated into English. However, there is some method behind the inconsistency, and naming conventions can be broken into three groups.

Parties known by their English name

In general, Israeli political parties are known by their English name when there is a party with an equivalent name in the English-speaking world. This is the case for the Israeli Labour Party, which associates itself with Labour parties abroad, such as the British Labour Party. Other parties known by their English names include the National Union, the Jewish National Front and the The Greens.

Names are also generally translated when the party's origin or concept is explained in its name. This includes the United Arab List, the National Religious Party or United Torah Judaism. The latter two are also known by their English initials, NRP and UTJ.

Occasionally names are translated when the Hebrew is too unwieldy for English speakers to manage, such as the Alignment (HaMa'arakh).

Parties known by their Hebrew name

Israeli political parties that do not have an equivalent in the English-speaking world are usually known by their Hebrew name. This includes parties such as Kadima (Forward), Likud (Consolidation), Meretz (Vitality) and Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home).

Parties known by their Hebrew/Arabic acronym

It is very common in Israel for parties to be known by acronyms of their name. This is at least partially caused by Hebrew and Arabic's capacity for acronym forming, due to the fact that vowels are not written in words. For instance, the Hebrew word degel (flag) would be written dgl (Hebrew: דגל) with the gaps filled by unwritten vowels. Thus whilst the Scottish National Party is known as the SNP, in Israel the Democratic Front for Peace (haHazit haDemokratit leSHalom) is known as Hadash. This is also similar to the norm in many Latin American countries; for example, a member of Brazil's Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT, or Worker's Party) can be called a "Petista" or a member of the Partido da Frente Liberal, a "Pefelista."

When written in English, rather than translating the acronym, the Hebrew is used but with the vowels added. Other contemporary parties known by their acronyms include Balad, Gil, Hetz, Meimad and Shas. Historical parties named in such a way include Mapai, Mapam, Maki, Gahal, Mizrachi and Rafi.

Exceptions

As with many rules, there are always a few exceptions. Shinui (Reform) is known by its Hebrew name despite Reform Parties being common internationally.

Current parties

Parties represented in the current Knesset

The following parties are represented in the 17th Knesset:

Party and constituents	Leader	Seats
Kadima	Tzipi Livni	29
Labour - Meimad Labour Meimad	Ehud Barak	19
Shas	Eli Yishai	12
Likud	Binyamin Netanyahu	12
Yisrael Beiteinu	Avigdor Lieberman	11
National Union - National Religious Party National Union Ahi Moledet Tkuma National Religious Party	Binyamin Elon	9
Gil	Rafi Eitan	4
United Torah Judaism Agudat Israel Degel HaTorah	Yaakov Litzman	6
Meretz-Yachad	Haim Oron	5
United Arab List - Ta'al United Arab List Ta'al	Ibrahim Sarsur	4
Hadash Maki	Mohammad Barakeh	3
Balad	Azmi Bishara	3
The Right Way	Elhanan Glazer	1

Other parties

The following parties ran for the 2006 elections but did not pass the electoral threshold:

• Ale Yarok
• Arab National Party
• Atid Ehad
• Brit Olam
• Green Party
• Herut – The National Movement
• Hetz (a new brand name for Citizen and State)
• Jewish National Front/Yamin Israel
• Justice for All
• Leeder
• Lekhem
• Lev LaOlim
• New Zionism
• Organization for Democratic Action
• Party for the War against Banks
• Shinui
• Strength to the Poor
• Tafnit
• Tzomet

Minor political parties

There are several other minor political parties that did not participate in the 2006 elections:

• Advanced National Union
• Ahavat Israel
• LHVA
• Moreshet Avot
• Natural Law Party
• Za'am

New parties

The following parties have been formed since the 2006 elections:

• Arab Centre Party
• Hatikva
• Jewish Home
• Social Justice
• Yisrael Hazaka

Former parties

Party	First Knesset	Last Knesset	Notes
Agriculture and Development	2nd	4th
Agudat Israel Workers	2nd	9th	Merged into Agudat Israel
Ahdut HaAvoda	2nd	5th	Merged into the Labour Party
Ahva	9th	9th	Breakaway from the Democratic Movement
Alignment	6th	12th	Became the Labour Party
Aliya	14th	14th	Breakaway from Yisrael BaAliyah
Arab Democratic Party	11th	13th	Breakaway from the Alignment, merged into the United Arab List
Arab List for Bedouins and Villagers	8th	8th	Merged into the United Arab List (1976)
Atid	13th	13th	Breakaway from Yiud
Black Panthers	12th	12th	Breakaway from Hadash
Centre Party	14th	15th	Breakaway from Likud, Tzomet and Labour
Cooperation and Brotherhood	4th	7th
Cooperation and Development	6th	6th	Merger of Cooperation and Brotherhood and Progress and Development, demerged soon after
Dash	9th	9th	Disbanded into the Democratic Movement, Shinui, and Ya'ad
Democratic Choice	15th	15th	Breakaway from Yisrael BaAliyah, merged into Meretz-Yachad
Democratic List for Israeli Arabs	2nd	3rd
Democratic Movement	9th	9th	Emerged from the breakup of Dash
Development and Peace	9th	9th
Druze Party	6th	6th	Breakaway from Cooperation and Brotherhood, merged into Progress and Development
Faction independent of Ahdut HaAvoda	2nd	2nd	Breakaway from Mapam, merged into Mapai
Fighters' List	1st	1st
Free Centre	6th	8th	Breakaway from Herut in 6th Knesset, breakaway from Likud in 8th Knesset
Gahal	5th	7th	Became Likud
General Zionists	1st	4th	Merged into the Liberal Party
Gesher	13th	15th	Breakaway from Likud, merged back into Likud
Gesher – Zionist Religious Centre	10th	10th	Breakaway from the National Religious Party, merged back into the NRP
Geulat Israel	10th	10th	Breakaway from Agudat Israel
HaOlam HaZeh – Koah Hadash	6th	7th
HaOlim	16th	16th	Breakaway from Shinui, merged into Yisrael Beiteinu
Hapoel HaMizrachi	2nd	2nd	Merged into the National Religious Party
Hatzohar	-	-	Disbanded after failing to cross the electoral threshold in the 1949 elections
Hebrew Communists	1st	1st	Breakaway from Maki, merged into Mapam
Herut	1st	5th	Merged into Gahal
HaTzeirim	14th	14th	Breakaway from the Centre Party, merged into Shinui
Independent Liberals	5th	9th	Breakaway from the Liberal Party, merged into the Alignment
Independent Socialist Faction	8th	8th	Breakaway from Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement
Jewish-Arab Brotherhood	6th	6th	Breakaway from Progress and Development, merged into Cooperation and Brotherhood
Justice for the Elderly	17th	17th	Breakaway from Gil, merged back into Gil
Kach	11th	11th	Party banned
Left Camp of Israel	9th	9th
Left Faction	2nd	2nd	Breakaway from Mapam
Lev	15th	15th	Breakaway from the Centre Party, merged into Likud
Liberal Party	4th	5th	Merged into Gahal
Maki (original)	1st	7th	Merged into Moked
Mapai	1st	5th	Merged into the Labour Party
Mapam	1st	12th	Merged into Meretz
Mekhora	14th	14th	Breakaway from Tzomet, merged into Moledet
Meri	7th	7th	Established after HaOlam HaZeh – Koah Hadash broke up
Mizrachi	2nd	2nd	Merged into the National Religious Party
Moked	7th	8th	Merged into the Left Camp of Israel
Morasha	11th	11th
Moria	12th	12th	Breakaway from Shas
Movement for the Renewal of Social Zionism	10th	10th	Breakaway from Telem
National Home	16th	16th	Breakaway from the Secular Faction
National List	7th	9th	Merged into Likud
New Liberal Party	12th	12th	Breakaway from Likud
New Way	15th	15th	Breakaway from the Centre Party
Noy	16th	16th	Breakaway from One Nation, merged into Kadima
Ometz	9th	11th	Breakaway from Likud, merged into Telem, broke away again, merged into Likud
One Israel (1980)	9th	9th	Breakaway from Likud
One Israel	15th	15th	Joint list of Labour, Meimad and Gesher
One Nation	14th	16th	Merged into the Labour Party
Progress and Development	4th	8th	Merged into the United Arab List (1976)
Progress and Work	2nd	3rd
Progressive List for Peace	11th	12th
Progressive National Alliance	15th	15th	Breakaway from the United Arab List
Progressive Party	1st	4th	Merged into the Liberal Party
Rafi	5th	6th	Breakaway from Mapai, merged into the Labour Party
Ratz	8th	12th	Merged into Meretz
Religious Torah Front	3rd	4th	Broke up into Agudat Israel and Agudat Israel Workers
Sephardim and Oriental Communities	1st	2nd	Merged into the General Zionists
Shlomtzion	9th	9th	Merged into Likud
Tami	10th	11th	Breakaway from the National Religious Party, merged into the Likud
Tehiya	9th	12th	Breakaway from Likud
Telem	9th	10th	Breakaway from Likud
The Third Way	13th	14th	Breakaway from the Labour Party
Tzalash	16th	16th	Breakaway from Shinui
United Arab List (1976)	8th	9th	Merger of the Arab List for Bedouins and Villagers and Progress and Development (not related to contemporary United Arab List)
United Religious Front	1st	1st	Broke up into Agudat Israel, Agudat Israel Workers, Mizrachi and Hapoel HaMizrachi
Unity for Peace and Immigration	12th	12th	Breakaway from the Alignment, merged into Likud
Unity Party	9th	9th	Breakaway from Dash and the Left Camp of Israel
WIZO	1st	1st
Women's Party	-	-	Formed before the 1977 elections but did not pass the electoral threshold
Ya'ad	9th	9th	Emerged from the breakup of Dash
Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement	8th	8th	Merger of Ratz and one other MK, split into Ratz and the Independent Socialist Faction
Yachad	11th	11th	Merged into the Alignment
Yemenite Association	1st	2nd	Merged into the General Zionists but broke away later
Yisrael BaAliyah	14th	16th	Merged into Likud
Yiud	13th	13th	Breakaway from Tzomet

Name changes

The following parties changed their names

• Banai became Tehiya-Bnai then Tehiya
• Emunim became Tkuma
• Equality in Israel-Panthers became the Unity Party
• Flatto-Sharon became Development and Peace
• Hitkhabrut became the Renewed Religious National Zionist Party, then Ahi
• Israel in the Centre became the Centre Party
• Meretz became Yachad then Meretz-Yachad
• Movement for Change and Initiative became Shinui
• Mizrachi-Hapoel HaMizrachi became the National Religious Front then the National Religious Party
• National Responsibility became Kadima
• National Unity - National Progressive Alliance became Progressive National Alliance
• Parliamentary Group of Bronfman and Tsinker became Makhar, then the Democratic Choice
• Party for the Advancement of the Zionist Idea became the New Liberal Party
• Rafi – National List became Ometz
• Rakah became Maki
• Social-Democratic Faction became the Independent Socialist Faction
• Shinui - Centre Party became Shinui - the Secular Movement, then Shinui - Party for the Secular and the Middle Class, but is generally known as Shinui

Zionist youth movements

Main article: Zionist youth movement

• Betar (associated with Likud)
• Bnei Akiva (Sons of Akiva, associated with the National Religious Party)
• Habonim Dror (The Builders - Freedom, socialist Zionist youth movement)
• Hashomer Hatzair (The Young Guard, socialist Zionist youth movement associated with Mapam and Meretz-Yachad)
• Magshimey Herut (associated with Herut)
• HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed (The Learning and Working Youth, socialist Zionist youth movement)
• Noar Avoda (Labour Youth, associated with Labour)
• Noar Moledet (Moledet Youth, associated with Moledet)
• Noar Meretz (Meretz Youth, associated with Meretz-Yachad)

See also

• Index of political parties to browse parties by name
• List of political parties to browse parties by country
• List of political parties by ideology to browse parties by name
• Membership of internationals to browse parties by membership of internationals
• Liberalism in Israel
• Labour Zionism
• Revisionist Zionism

External links

• Party registrar, list of registered political parties Ministry of Justice
• Parties participating in the 2006 elections Knesset website (English)
• All parliamentary groups Knesset website (English)

Parliamentary political parties in Israel Kadima • Labour-Meimad • Shas • Likud • Yisrael Beiteinu • Gil • Meretz-Yachad • The Right Way National Religious Party-National Union (Ahi, Moledet, Tkuma) • United Torah Judaism (Agudat Israel, Degel HaTorah) United Arab List-Ta'al • Hadash (Maki) • Balad Portal:Politics - List of political parties - Politics of Israel