Alignment (political party)
Encyclopedia
The Alignment was an alliance of the major left-wing parties in Israel
between the 1960s and 1990s. It was established in 1965 as an alliance of Mapai
and Ahdut HaAvoda
but was dissolved three years later when the two parties and Rafi formally merged into the Israeli Labor Party. In 1969 a new party known as the Alignment was established through an alliance of the Israeli Labor Party and Mapam
, at the time holding 63 Knesset
seats, the only party ever to have held an absolute majority of seats in the Knesset.
and Ahdut HaAvoda
formed to contest the 1965 Knesset elections
. Its formation was in response to the merger of the two major right-wing parties in Israel, Herut
and the Liberal Party
to form Gahal
, and to try and preserve the left's hegemony in Israeli politics.
In the elections, the Alignment won 36.7% of the vote and 45 of the 120 Knesset seats, enough to comfortably beat Gahal, which had only won 26, though not as many as Mapai had won in the 1951
and 1959 elections
. The party's leader, Levi Eshkol
formed a coalition government with the National Religious Party
, Mapam
, the Independent Liberals
, Agudat Israel Workers
and two Israeli Arab parties associated with the Alignment, Progress and Development
and Cooperation and Brotherhood
.
On 23 January 1968, Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda merged with Rafi (though Rafi's leader David Ben-Gurion
refused to join, and left to form his own faction, the National List
) to form the Israeli Labor Party, and the Alignment ceased to exist.
, which was named the Alignment. The alliance held 63 seats, the only time a single faction has ever achieved a majority in the Knesset.
When Eshkol died on 26 February 1969, he was succeeded by Golda Meir
, Israel's first, and so far only, female Prime Minister
, making Israel one of the first countries in the world to have a woman heading the government.
The country's success in the Six-Day War
helped the party's popularity, and led to its comprehensive victory in the 1969 elections
. Although it lost its majority, the 46.2% of the vote and 56 seats was (and remains) the best electoral performance in Israeli political history. Meir continued with a national unity government including Gahal, the National Religious Party, the Independent Liberals, Progress and Development and Cooperation and Brotherhood until 1970 when Gahal resigned after the government had decided in principle to adopt the Rogers Plan
, though ultimately they decided against it.
During the Knesset session, the party gained one seat as Meir Avizohar defected from the National List
.
, a surprise attack was launched by Egypt
and Syria
, resulting in the Yom Kippur War
. Although Israel later recovered the ground initially lost, the war was generally considered to be a failure, and the government faced significant criticism. The Agranat Commission
was set up to examine the circumstances that led to the war.
Before the Commission could publish its results, an election was held. Anger at the government was not significantly noticeable, as the Alignment still won 39.6% of the vote and 51 seats. More significantly, the new major right-wing party, Likud
, won 39 seats, and was now breathing down the Alignment's neck. Meir formed a coalition with the National Religious Party and the Independent Liberals. However, ten days after the Agranat Commission published its findings on 1 April 1974, Meir resigned, despite the report clearing her and her Defence Minister, Moshe Dayan
of all responsibility.
Yitzhak Rabin
took over the Labor party, beating Shimon Peres
in a leadership contest. This battle led to a long-term falling out between the two, after Rabin described Peres as an "indefatigable intriguer" in his autobiography. Rabin formed a new government with Ratz, the Independent Liberals, Progress and Development and the Arab List for Bedouins and Villagers
, another Israeli Arab party associated with the Alignment. The National Religious Party joined the coalition soon after, though their arrival precipitated the departure of secularist Ratz.
The party's internal divisions were also beginning to show, as Mapam broke away from the party, as did Progress and Development and the Arab List for Bedouins and Villagers, who had both come under the Alignment umbrella during Rabin's tenure. Although Mapam returned to the fold, the two Arab parties broke their ties with the party, uniting to create the United Arab List. Two other MKs, Aryeh Eliav
and Mordechai Ben-Porat
also left the party, the former going on to form Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement
and then the Independent Socialist Faction
, whilst the latter remained an independent MK.
In 1976 the Alignment government was hit by the Yadlin affair
regarding illegitimate financial transactions by senior members of the party, notably Asher Yadlin and Avraham Ofer
. The following year Rabin fell victim to a double scandal, when it was revealed his wife, Leah had a foreign currency bank account, illegal in Israel at the time; the episode becoming known as the Dollar Account affair
. He also took responsibility for an apparent breach of the Sabbath
on an Israeli Air Force
base. Rabin resigned over the former incident, and Peres took over as Prime Minister just a short time before the next elections.
Shortly before the election, the Alignment party suffered another major blow when Rabin announced that US President Jimmy Carter supported the Israeli idea of defensive borders. Peres led the party into the 1977 elections
, which proved to be a historical turning point in Israeli political history: For the first time the left-wing were defeated. The Alignment won only 24.6% of the vote, a decrease of over a third, and picked up just 32 seats. In contrast, Menachem Begin
's Likud won 43 seats. Begin was able to form a right-wing coalition with Shlomtzion (which quickly merged into Likud), the National Religious Party
, Agudat Israel
, and Dash
. Even after Dash disintegrated, Begin still held a majority.
Although the disastrous Yom Kippur War was a factor in the party's heavy defeat, allegations of corruption and nepotism (highlighted by the various scandals) and anger at the party's perceived bias towards Ashkenazi Jews over Mizrahi Jews also played major roles in the election result.
Further embarrassment for the Alignment was brought about as Begin offered Moshe Dayan the position of Foreign Minister despite his party not being in the coalition. Dayan accepted the offer, and was expelled from the party. After sitting as an independent MK, he founded Telem
.
However, the Alignment still had an important role to play, as it helped pass the Camp David Accords
and the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty
in the Knesset. This was necessary as many Likud MKs had broken away to form opposition parties (One Israel
, Rafi – National List
, Tehiya
and Yosef Tamir
as an independent) and several others (including Ariel Sharon
and Yitzhak Shamir
) abstained from voting on it.
Despite losing Dayan, the party picked up two more seats as former Dash MKs Meir Amit
and David Golomb
defected from Shinui
.
as it gained 36.6% of the vote, an improvement of 12%, and 47 seats. However, Likud took 48, allowing Begin to form the government with the help of small right-wing and religious parties. Ratz briefly merged into the Alignment, but broke away again. Nevertheless, by the end of the Knesset session the party had more seats than its rival as two Likud MKs had defected to join it. The Alignment was also boosted when the Independent Liberals
merged into it in 1984.
With Peres still at the head of the party, the 1984 elections
resulted in stalemate. Although the Alignment won 44 seats to Likud's 41, it could not muster enough support from suitable smaller parties to form a government (the next largest party had only five seats, and two of the small left-wing parties, Hadash
and the Progressive List for Peace
were not viewed as potential coalition partners due to their radical left-wing views). However, the Likud found itself in the same situation (Kach
being impossible to work with). The result was a grand coalition of the Alignment, Likud, the National Religious Party, Agudat Israel
, Shas
, Morasha
, Shinui and Ometz (which later merged into Likud). With 97 seats, it was the largest coalition in Israeli political history aside from national unity governments.
Peres and new Likud leader Yitzhak Shamir agreed to share power, with Peres Prime Minister for the first two years of the Knesset term and Shamir for the last two. When Shamir took over, Shinui left the coalition. The Alignment ended the session with six less MKs, as Mapam broke away from the party, unhappy at the power-sharing agreement with Shamir. The party also lost one MK to Ratz (Yossi Sarid
), one to Shinui (Yitzhak Artzi
) and one to the newly formed Arab Democratic Party
(Abdulwahab Darawshe
) but replaced them when the three-man Yachad merged into the Alignment.
The result of the 1988 elections
was also ambiguous, with Likud winning 40 seats and the Alignment 39. Another power-sharing arrangement was made, and the coalition again had 97 members, consisting of Likud, the Alignment, the National Religious Party, Shas, Agudat Israel and Degel HaTorah
.
However, in 1990 Peres made a bid for sole power through the creation of a narrow 61-seat coalition with the Ultra-orthodox
parties Shas, Agudat Israel and Degel HaTorah and the left-wing Mapam, Ratz and Shinui. Ultimately the bid failed, and the Alignment was kicked out of the coalition for the last two years of the Knesset's term. The party also lost one MK, Efraim Gur
, who left and set up Unity for Peace and Immigration
before joining Likud. The affair later became known in Israel as "the dirty trick
".
On 7 October 1991 the Alignment was formally merged into the Israeli Labor Party and ceased to exist.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
between the 1960s and 1990s. It was established in 1965 as an alliance of Mapai
Mapai
Mapai was a left-wing political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in 1968...
and Ahdut HaAvoda
Ahdut HaAvoda
Ahdut HaAvoda was the name used by a sequence of political parties that existed firstly during Mandate Palestine and later in Israel. Its original version, led by David Ben-Gurion, is one of the main ancestors of the modern-day Israeli Labor Party....
but was dissolved three years later when the two parties and Rafi formally merged into the Israeli Labor Party. In 1969 a new party known as the Alignment was established through an alliance of the Israeli Labor Party and Mapam
Mapam
Mapam was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.-History:Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party and Ahdut HaAvoda Poale Zion Movement. The party was originally Marxist-Zionist in its outlook and represented...
, at the time holding 63 Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
seats, the only party ever to have held an absolute majority of seats in the Knesset.
First Alignment
The first incarnation of the Alignment, fully named the HaMa'arakh LeAhdut Poalei Eretz Yisrael , was an alliance of MapaiMapai
Mapai was a left-wing political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in 1968...
and Ahdut HaAvoda
Ahdut HaAvoda
Ahdut HaAvoda was the name used by a sequence of political parties that existed firstly during Mandate Palestine and later in Israel. Its original version, led by David Ben-Gurion, is one of the main ancestors of the modern-day Israeli Labor Party....
formed to contest the 1965 Knesset elections
Israeli legislative election, 1965
Elections for the sixth Knesset were held in Israel on 1 November 1965. Voter turnout was 85.9%.-Background:Prior to the elections, two major alliances were formed; Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda united to form the Alignment, whilst Herut and the Liberal Party had formed the Gahal alliance towards the end...
. Its formation was in response to the merger of the two major right-wing parties in Israel, Herut
Herut
Herut was the major right-wing political party in Israel from the 1940s until its formal merger into Likud in 1988, and an adherent of Revisionist Zionism.-History:...
and the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (Israel)
The Israeli Liberal Party was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Likud.-History:The Liberal Party was formed on 8 May 1961, towards the end of the fourth Knesset, by a merger of the General Zionists and the Progressive Party, with the new party having 14...
to form Gahal
Gahal
Gahal , lit. Herut-Liberals Bloc) was the major right-wing political faction in Israel led by Menachem Begin from its founding in 1965 until it merged into Likud in 1973.-Background:...
, and to try and preserve the left's hegemony in Israeli politics.
In the elections, the Alignment won 36.7% of the vote and 45 of the 120 Knesset seats, enough to comfortably beat Gahal, which had only won 26, though not as many as Mapai had won in the 1951
Israeli legislative election, 1951
Elections for the second Knesset were held in Israel on 30 July 1951. Voter turnout was 75.1%.-Results:¹ Rostam Bastuni, Avraham Berman and Moshe Sneh left Mapam and set up the Left Faction. Bastuni later returned to Mapam whilst Berman and Sneh joined Maki. Hannah Lamdan and David Livschitz left...
and 1959 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1959
Elections for the fourth Knesset were held in Israel on 3 November 1959. Voter turnout was 81.5%.-Results:¹ The General Zionists and the Progressive Party merged to form the Liberal Party....
. The party's leader, Levi Eshkol
Levi Eshkol
' served as the third Prime Minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. He was the first Israeli Prime Minister to die in office.-Biography:...
formed a coalition government with the National Religious Party
National Religious Party
The National Religious Party ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist movement. Formed in 1956, at the time of its dissolution in 2008, it was the second oldest surviving party in the country after Agudat Yisrael, and was part of every government coalition until 1992...
, Mapam
Mapam
Mapam was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.-History:Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party and Ahdut HaAvoda Poale Zion Movement. The party was originally Marxist-Zionist in its outlook and represented...
, the Independent Liberals
Independent Liberals (Israel)
The Independent Liberals were a political party in Israel between the 1960s and 1980s.-History:The Independent Liberals party was formed during the fifth Knesset in the aftermath of the merger of the Liberal Party and Herut. Seven of the 17 Liberal Party MKs led by former Minister of Justice,...
, Agudat Israel Workers
Agudat Israel Workers
Poalei Agudat Yisrael was a political party in Poland, and is a minor political party and settlement movement in Israel. It is also known as PAI or PAGI, its Hebrew acronym .-History:...
and two Israeli Arab parties associated with the Alignment, Progress and Development
Progress and Development
Progress and Development was a political party in Israel.-History:Progress and Development was an Israeli Arab organisation formed to fight the 1959 elections...
and Cooperation and Brotherhood
Cooperation and Brotherhood
Cooperation and Brotherhood was a political party in Israel.-History:Cooperation and Brotherhood was an Israeli Arab organisation formed to participate in the 1959 elections...
.
On 23 January 1968, Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda merged with Rafi (though Rafi's leader David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion
' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...
refused to join, and left to form his own faction, the National List
National List
The National List , sometimes translated as the State List, was a political party in Israel. Despite being founded by David Ben-Gurion, one of the fathers of the Israeli left, the party is an ancestor of the modern-day Likud, Israel's largest right-wing bloc.-Background:The National List had been...
) to form the Israeli Labor Party, and the Alignment ceased to exist.
Second Alignment
On 28 January 1969 the Israeli Labor Party entered into an alliance with MapamMapam
Mapam was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.-History:Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party and Ahdut HaAvoda Poale Zion Movement. The party was originally Marxist-Zionist in its outlook and represented...
, which was named the Alignment. The alliance held 63 seats, the only time a single faction has ever achieved a majority in the Knesset.
When Eshkol died on 26 February 1969, he was succeeded by Golda Meir
Golda Meir
Golda Meir ; May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978) was a teacher, kibbutznik and politician who became the fourth Prime Minister of the State of Israel....
, Israel's first, and so far only, female Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Israel
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
, making Israel one of the first countries in the world to have a woman heading the government.
The country's success in the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
helped the party's popularity, and led to its comprehensive victory in the 1969 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1969
Elections for the seventh Knesset were held in Israel on 28 October 1969. Voter turnout was 81.7%.-Results:¹ Meir Avizohar defected from the National List to the Alignment² Avner Shaki left the National Religious Party and remained a single MK...
. Although it lost its majority, the 46.2% of the vote and 56 seats was (and remains) the best electoral performance in Israeli political history. Meir continued with a national unity government including Gahal, the National Religious Party, the Independent Liberals, Progress and Development and Cooperation and Brotherhood until 1970 when Gahal resigned after the government had decided in principle to adopt the Rogers Plan
Rogers plan
The Rogers Plan was a framework proposed by United States Secretary of State William P. Rogers to achieve an end to belligerence in the Arab-Israeli conflict following the Six-Day War and the continuing War of Attrition. The plan was publicly proposed in a December 9, 1969 speech at an Adult...
, though ultimately they decided against it.
During the Knesset session, the party gained one seat as Meir Avizohar defected from the National List
National List
The National List , sometimes translated as the State List, was a political party in Israel. Despite being founded by David Ben-Gurion, one of the fathers of the Israeli left, the party is an ancestor of the modern-day Likud, Israel's largest right-wing bloc.-Background:The National List had been...
.
1970s
The seventh Knesset also covered the event that played a major part in the party's downfall. On 6 October 1973, as Israelis were observing Yom KippurYom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
, a surprise attack was launched by Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, resulting in the Yom Kippur War
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
. Although Israel later recovered the ground initially lost, the war was generally considered to be a failure, and the government faced significant criticism. The Agranat Commission
Agranat Commission
The Agranat Commission was a National Commision of Inquiry set up to investigate failings in the Israel Defense Forces in the prelude to the Yom Kippur War, when Israel was found unprepared for the Egyptian attack against the Bar Lev Line and a simultaneous attack by Syria in the Golan — the first...
was set up to examine the circumstances that led to the war.
Before the Commission could publish its results, an election was held. Anger at the government was not significantly noticeable, as the Alignment still won 39.6% of the vote and 51 seats. More significantly, the new major right-wing party, Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
, won 39 seats, and was now breathing down the Alignment's neck. Meir formed a coalition with the National Religious Party and the Independent Liberals. However, ten days after the Agranat Commission published its findings on 1 April 1974, Meir resigned, despite the report clearing her and her Defence Minister, Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan was an Israeli military leader and politician. The fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces , he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new State of Israel...
of all responsibility.
Yitzhak Rabin
Yitzhak Rabin
' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
took over the Labor party, beating Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres
GCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
in a leadership contest. This battle led to a long-term falling out between the two, after Rabin described Peres as an "indefatigable intriguer" in his autobiography. Rabin formed a new government with Ratz, the Independent Liberals, Progress and Development and the Arab List for Bedouins and Villagers
Arab List for Bedouins and Villagers
The Arab List for Bedouin and Villagers was an Israeli Arab political party in Israel.-Background:The party was created in the run-up to the 1973 elections as an Israeli Arab party associated with the governing Alignment...
, another Israeli Arab party associated with the Alignment. The National Religious Party joined the coalition soon after, though their arrival precipitated the departure of secularist Ratz.
The party's internal divisions were also beginning to show, as Mapam broke away from the party, as did Progress and Development and the Arab List for Bedouins and Villagers, who had both come under the Alignment umbrella during Rabin's tenure. Although Mapam returned to the fold, the two Arab parties broke their ties with the party, uniting to create the United Arab List. Two other MKs, Aryeh Eliav
Aryeh Eliav
Arie "Lova" Eliav, born Lev Lipschitz , , was an Israeli politician and former member of the Knesset.-Biography:...
and Mordechai Ben-Porat
Mordechai Ben-Porat
Mordechai Ben-Porat is a former Israeli politician who served as Minister without Portfolio from July 1982 until January 1984. During his four terms in the Knesset, he represented five different parties.-Biography:...
also left the party, the former going on to form Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement
Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement
Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement , commonly known as just Ya'ad, was a short-lived political party in Israel. It is not related to the other party by the name of Ya'ad which existed during the ninth Knesset.-Background:...
and then the Independent Socialist Faction
Independent Socialist Faction
The Independent Socialist Faction was a political party in Israel in the 1970s.-Background:The party was established on 27 January 1976, during the eighth Knesset, as the Social-Democratic Faction, when Aryeh Eliav and Marcia Freedman left Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement. Prior to its creation,...
, whilst the latter remained an independent MK.
In 1976 the Alignment government was hit by the Yadlin affair
Yadlin affair
The Yadlin Affair refers to a political corruption scandal that broke in Israel in 1976, involving senior members of the Labor Party...
regarding illegitimate financial transactions by senior members of the party, notably Asher Yadlin and Avraham Ofer
Avraham Ofer
Avraham Ofer was an Israeli politician, famous for committing suicide following the eruption of a corruption scandal.- Biography :Ofer was born in the Khorostkov shtetl in Poland in 1922, and immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1933. He went to High School in Jerusalem and studied in the Hebrew...
. The following year Rabin fell victim to a double scandal, when it was revealed his wife, Leah had a foreign currency bank account, illegal in Israel at the time; the episode becoming known as the Dollar Account affair
Dollar Account affair
The Dollar Account affair was a political scandal in Israel in 1977, following the exposure of an illegal US Dollar bank account held by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his wife Leah...
. He also took responsibility for an apparent breach of the Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
on an Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
base. Rabin resigned over the former incident, and Peres took over as Prime Minister just a short time before the next elections.
Shortly before the election, the Alignment party suffered another major blow when Rabin announced that US President Jimmy Carter supported the Israeli idea of defensive borders. Peres led the party into the 1977 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1977
The Elections for the ninth Knesset were held on 17 May 1977. For the first time in Israeli political history, the right-wing, led by Likud, won the election, ending almost 30 years of rule by the left-wing Alignment and its predecessor, Mapai...
, which proved to be a historical turning point in Israeli political history: For the first time the left-wing were defeated. The Alignment won only 24.6% of the vote, a decrease of over a third, and picked up just 32 seats. In contrast, Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
's Likud won 43 seats. Begin was able to form a right-wing coalition with Shlomtzion (which quickly merged into Likud), the National Religious Party
National Religious Party
The National Religious Party ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist movement. Formed in 1956, at the time of its dissolution in 2008, it was the second oldest surviving party in the country after Agudat Yisrael, and was part of every government coalition until 1992...
, Agudat Israel
Agudat Israel
Agudat Yisrael began as the original political party representing the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine...
, and Dash
Democratic Movement for Change
The Democratic Movement for Change , commonly known by its Hebrew acronym Dash was a short-lived and initially highly-successful centrist political party in Israel...
. Even after Dash disintegrated, Begin still held a majority.
Although the disastrous Yom Kippur War was a factor in the party's heavy defeat, allegations of corruption and nepotism (highlighted by the various scandals) and anger at the party's perceived bias towards Ashkenazi Jews over Mizrahi Jews also played major roles in the election result.
Further embarrassment for the Alignment was brought about as Begin offered Moshe Dayan the position of Foreign Minister despite his party not being in the coalition. Dayan accepted the offer, and was expelled from the party. After sitting as an independent MK, he founded Telem
Telem (political party)
Telem , lit. Movement for National Renewal) was a political party in Israel.-Background:Telem was formed on 19 May 1981 during the ninth Knesset by Moshe Dayan and two ex-Likud MKs. Dayan had been elected to the Knesset as an MK for the Alignment, which had lost the election for the first time in...
.
However, the Alignment still had an important role to play, as it helped pass the Camp David Accords
Camp David Accords
The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, following thirteen days of secret negotiations at Camp David. The two framework agreements were signed at the White House, and were witnessed by United States...
and the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty
Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty
The 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty was signed in Washington, D.C. on the 26th of March 1979, following the 1978 Camp David Accords, which were signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and were witnessed by United States President Jimmy Carter.The peace...
in the Knesset. This was necessary as many Likud MKs had broken away to form opposition parties (One Israel
One Israel (1980)
One Israel was a short-lived, one-man political party in Israel led by Yitzhak Yitzhaky.-Background:The formation of One Israel during the ninth Knesset was largely precipitated by Menachem Begin's controversial decision to sign the Camp David Accords and the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty despite...
, Rafi – National List
Ometz (political party)
Ometz , originally Rafi – National List , then the National List was a small right-wing political party in Israel, which existed briefly in 1981, and then from 1983 until 1987...
, Tehiya
Tehiya
Tehiya , originally known as Banai , then Tehiya-Bnai , was a small right-wing political party in Israel that existed from 1979 until 1992...
and Yosef Tamir
Yosef Tamir
-Background:Tamir was born in Berdychiv in the Russian Empire and immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1924. He passed through elementary and high school in Petah Tikva and graduated from the Law and Economics School at Tel Aviv University....
as an independent) and several others (including Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
and Yitzhak Shamir
Yitzhak Shamir
' is a former Israeli politician, the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, in 1983–84 and 1986–92.-Biography:Icchak Jeziernicky was born in Ruzhany , Russian Empire . He studied at a Hebrew High School in Białystok, Poland. As a youth he joined Betar, the Revisionist Zionist youth movement...
) abstained from voting on it.
Despite losing Dayan, the party picked up two more seats as former Dash MKs Meir Amit
Meir Amit
Meir Amit was an Israeli politician and general. He served as Director of the Mossad from 1963 to 1968 before entering politics and holding two ministerial positions.-Biography:...
and David Golomb
David Golomb
David Golomb is a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Alignment, Labor Party, Democratic Movement for Change and Shinui in two spells between 1968 and 1969, and again from 1977 until 1981.-Biography:...
defected from Shinui
Shinui
Shinui is a Zionist, secular and anti-clerical free market liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a split and collapse; in 1977 the party won 15 seats as part of the Democratic Movement for...
.
1980s
The party recovered well in the 1981 electionsIsraeli legislative election, 1981
Elections for the tenth Knesset were held in Israel on 30 June 1981. Despite last minute polls suggesting a victory for Shimon Peres's Alignment, Menachem Begin's Likud won by just one seat...
as it gained 36.6% of the vote, an improvement of 12%, and 47 seats. However, Likud took 48, allowing Begin to form the government with the help of small right-wing and religious parties. Ratz briefly merged into the Alignment, but broke away again. Nevertheless, by the end of the Knesset session the party had more seats than its rival as two Likud MKs had defected to join it. The Alignment was also boosted when the Independent Liberals
Independent Liberals (Israel)
The Independent Liberals were a political party in Israel between the 1960s and 1980s.-History:The Independent Liberals party was formed during the fifth Knesset in the aftermath of the merger of the Liberal Party and Herut. Seven of the 17 Liberal Party MKs led by former Minister of Justice,...
merged into it in 1984.
With Peres still at the head of the party, the 1984 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1984
Elections for the eleventh Knesset were held in Israel on 23 July 1984. Voter turnout was 78.8%. The results saw the Alignment return to being the largest party in the Knesset, a status it had lost in 1977...
resulted in stalemate. Although the Alignment won 44 seats to Likud's 41, it could not muster enough support from suitable smaller parties to form a government (the next largest party had only five seats, and two of the small left-wing parties, Hadash
Hadash
Hadash is a Jewish and Arab socialist front of organizations that runs for the Israeli parliament. It currently has four members in the 120-seat Knesset.-Background:...
and the Progressive List for Peace
Progressive List for Peace
The Progressive List for Peace was a left-wing political party in Israel formed from an alliance of both Arab and Jewish left-wing activists.-History:...
were not viewed as potential coalition partners due to their radical left-wing views). However, the Likud found itself in the same situation (Kach
Kach and Kahane Chai
Kach was a far-right political party in Israel. Founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane in the early 1970s, and following his Jewish nationalist ideology , the party entered the Knesset in 1984 after several electoral failures...
being impossible to work with). The result was a grand coalition of the Alignment, Likud, the National Religious Party, Agudat Israel
Agudat Israel
Agudat Yisrael began as the original political party representing the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine...
, Shas
Shas
Shas is an ultra-orthodox religious political party in Israel, primarily representing Sephardic and Mizrahi Haredi Judaism.Shas was founded in 1984 by dissident members of the Ashkenazi dominated Agudat Israel, to represent the interests of religiously observant Sephardic and Mizrahi ...
, Morasha
Morasha
Morasha , later known as Morasha-Poalei Agudat Yisrael was a small, short-lived religious political party in Israel during the 1980s.-Background:...
, Shinui and Ometz (which later merged into Likud). With 97 seats, it was the largest coalition in Israeli political history aside from national unity governments.
Peres and new Likud leader Yitzhak Shamir agreed to share power, with Peres Prime Minister for the first two years of the Knesset term and Shamir for the last two. When Shamir took over, Shinui left the coalition. The Alignment ended the session with six less MKs, as Mapam broke away from the party, unhappy at the power-sharing agreement with Shamir. The party also lost one MK to Ratz (Yossi Sarid
Yossi Sarid
Yossi Sarid is a left-wing Israeli news commentator and former politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for the Alignment, Ratz and Meretz between 1974 and 2006...
), one to Shinui (Yitzhak Artzi
Yitzhak Artzi
Yitzhak Artzi was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1984 and 1988.-Biography:Artzi was born Izo Hertzig in Siret, Romania into a Hassidic family. He was educated at high schools in his hometown and Chernivtsi, before attending the Jewish College in Bucharest...
) and one to the newly formed Arab Democratic Party
Arab Democratic Party (Israel)
The Arab Democratic Party commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acroynym Mada was a political party in Israel. Since the late 1990s it has been a faction within the United Arab List.-Background:...
(Abdulwahab Darawshe
Abdulwahab Darawshe
Abdulwahab Darawshe is an Israeli Arab former politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Alignment and the Arab Democratic Party between 1984 and 1999.-Biography:...
) but replaced them when the three-man Yachad merged into the Alignment.
The result of the 1988 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1988
Elections for the twelfth Knesset were held in Israel on 1 November 1988. Voter turnout was 79.7%.-Results:1 Five members of the Likud left to form the Party for the Advancement of the Zionist Idea; after two returned, the party was renamed the New Liberal Party...
was also ambiguous, with Likud winning 40 seats and the Alignment 39. Another power-sharing arrangement was made, and the coalition again had 97 members, consisting of Likud, the Alignment, the National Religious Party, Shas, Agudat Israel and Degel HaTorah
Degel HaTorah
Degel HaTorah is an Ashkenazi Haredi political party in Israel. For much of its existence it has been allied to Agudat Yisrael under the name United Torah Judaism.-Ideology:...
.
However, in 1990 Peres made a bid for sole power through the creation of a narrow 61-seat coalition with the Ultra-orthodox
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
parties Shas, Agudat Israel and Degel HaTorah and the left-wing Mapam, Ratz and Shinui. Ultimately the bid failed, and the Alignment was kicked out of the coalition for the last two years of the Knesset's term. The party also lost one MK, Efraim Gur
Efraim Gur
Efraim Gur is an Israeli former politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1988 and 1996, and as Deputy Minister of Communications and Deputy Minister of Transportation in the early 1990s.-Biography:...
, who left and set up Unity for Peace and Immigration
Unity for Peace and Immigration
Unity for Peace and Immigration was a short-lived one man political faction in Israel in the early 1990s.-Background:The faction was formed when Efraim Gur broke away from the Alignment in 1990, during the term of the 12th Knesset. Gur was invited to join Yitzhak Shamir's new government which had...
before joining Likud. The affair later became known in Israel as "the dirty trick
The dirty trick (Israel)
The dirty trick refers to a political scandal that erupted in Israel in 1990. It consisted of an attempt by Shimon Peres to form a narrow government made up of the left-wing factions and the ultra-orthodox parties...
".
On 7 October 1991 the Alignment was formally merged into the Israeli Labor Party and ceased to exist.