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Liberalism in Israel

{{short description|Overview of liberalism in Israel}}

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Liberalism in Israel has played a role since the country's founding.{{cite magazine|magazine=Jerusalem Report|title=Yair Lapid's shot at bringing the political center to the forefront|first=Amotz|last=Asa-El|author-link=Amotz Asa-El|date=24 March 2018|url=https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/yair-lapid-and-the-forbidden-journey-546689}}

Several liberal political parties have claimed substantial popular support, mainly proved by having representation in the Knesset. While liberalism is usually suspicious of nationalism, Jewish liberals in Israel generally support some form of Zionism. They tend to be more receptive towards a Two-state solution.

Conservative liberals (see General Zionists, Liberal Party) were founding members of the Likud, the country's main conservative party, while social liberals (see Progressive Party, Independent Liberals) were integrated in the social-democratic Labor Party. Later on, a long-time liberal, anti-clerical and pro-free market party was Shinui, a member of the Liberal International. More recently, Kadima was a broad liberal and centrist party, integrating politicians from the left and the right. Current liberal (and liberal Zionist) parties are Yesh Atid and the Resilience Party (Blue and White). New Hope is a national-liberal party. By contrast, Balad draws upon liberal values in its aim to eliminate discrimination against Arab citizens and redefine Israel as a state for all its citizens rather than a "Jewish and democratic state", but it is a secular party rather than a liberal one.

Overview

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

! width=12%|School

! colspan="2" width=28%|Party

! width=60%|Leaders

rowspan="1" scope=row | Classical liberalism

| style="background:{{party color|General Zionists}}"|

| General Zionists (1922–1961)

| {{Hlist|Meir Dizengoff|Israel Rokach|Peretz Bernstein|Yosef Sapir}}

rowspan="5" scope=row | Social liberalism

| style="background:{{party color|Progressive Party (Israel)}}"|

| Progressive Party (1948–1961)

| {{Hlist|Pinchas Rosen}}

style="background:{{party color|Kulanu}}"|

| Kulanu (2014–2019)

| {{Hlist|Moshe Kahlon}}

style="background:{{party color|Gesher (2019 political party)}}"|

| Gesher (2019–2021)

| {{Hlist|Orly Levy-Abekasis}}

style="background:{{party color|Israel Resilience Party}}"|

| Israel Resilience Party (2019–present)

| {{Hlist|Benny Gantz}}

style="background:{{party color|Blue and White (political alliance)}}"|

| Blue and White (2019–2022)

| {{Hlist|Benny Gantz}}

rowspan="10" scope=row | Liberalism
style="background:{{party color|Israeli Liberal Party}}"|

| Israeli Liberal Party (1961–1988)

| {{Hlist|Pinchas Rosen|Peretz Bernstein|Yosef Serlin|Yosef Sapir|Elimelekh Rimalt|Simha Erlich|Pinchas Goldstein}}

style="background:{{party color|Independent Liberals (Israel)}}"|

| Independent Liberals (1965–1992)

| {{Hlist|Pinchas Rosen|Moshe Kol|Gideon Hausner|Yitzhak Artzi}}

style="background:{{party color|Shinui}}"|

| Shinui (1974–present)

| {{Hlist|Amnon Rubinstein|Avraham Poraz|Tommy Lapid|Ron Levintal}}

style="background:{{party color|Democratic Movement for Change}}"|

| Democratic Movement for Change (1976–1978)

| {{Hlist|Yigael Yadin}}

style="background:{{party color|Hetz (political party)}}"|

| Hetz (2006–2012)

| {{Hlist|Avraham Poraz}}

style="background:{{party color|Kadima}}"|

| Kadima (2006–2015)

| {{Hlist|Ariel Sharon|Ehud Olmert|Tzipi Livni|Shaul Mofaz|Akram Hasson}}

style="background:{{party color|Hatnua}}"|

| Hatnua (2012–2019)

| {{Hlist|Tzipi Livni}}

style="background:{{party color|Yesh Atid}}"|

| Yesh Atid (2012–present)

| {{Hlist|Yair Lapid}}

style="background:{{party color|National Unity Party (Israel)}}"|

| National Unity (2022–present)

| {{Hlist|Benny Gantz}}

rowspan="3" scope=row | National liberalism

| style="background:{{party color|Likud}}"|

| Likud (1973–present)

| {{Hlist|Menachem Begin|Yitzhak Shamir|Ariel Sharon|Benjamin Netanyahu}}

style="background:{{party color|Telem (2019 political party)}}"|

| Telem (2019–present)

| {{Hlist|Moshe Ya'alon}}

style="background:{{party color|New Hope (Israel)}}"|

| New Hope (2020–present)

| {{Hlist|Gideon Sa'ar}}

Timeline

=From General Zionists to Liberal Party=

  • 1922: Centrists in the World Zionist Organization form the General Zionists.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/general-zionism|title = General Zionism}}{{Cite web|url=https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/General_Zionists|title = YIVO | General Zionists}}{{Cite journal|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/f4qJJcMKBJkxu2gGfAkc/full|title=Who represented the Israeli middle class? The crystallization of the General Zionists from 1948 to 1949|journal=Middle Eastern Studies|date=9 January 2018|last1=Goldstein|first1=Amir|volume=54|issue=3|pages=400–414|doi=10.1080/00263206.2017.1419468|s2cid=148943042|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite web|url=https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/general-zionists|title = General Zionists}}{{cite web |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionPage_eng.asp?PG=81 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040905075854/http://knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionPage_eng.asp?PG=81 |archive-date=2004-09-05 |title=Parliamentary Groups in the Knesset}}
  • 1931: The General Zionists split in "Faction A" and "Faction B".
  • 1945: Factions A and B of the General Zionists merge.
  • 1951: The party wins 16.2% of the vote and 20 seats in the general election.
  • 1961: The party merges with the Progressive Party (PP) to become the Israeli Liberal Party (LP),{{cite web |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionPage_eng.asp?PG=79 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040905075846/http://knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionPage_eng.asp?PG=79 |archive-date=2004-09-05 |title=Parliamentary Groups in the Knesset}}{{Cite web|url=https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/progressive-party|title = Progressive Party}}{{Cite web|url=https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/the-liberal-party|title = The Liberal Party}} which wins 13.6% of the vote and 17 seats in the general election.
  • 1965: The LP splits with the conservative majority joining Herut to form Gahal,{{Cite web|url=https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/gachal|title=Gachal}} eventually becoming Likud,{{Cite web|url=https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/likud|title = Likud - parties}}{{cite book|title=המהפך הליברלי; מיזוגים פוליטיים : חקר המפלגה הליברלית בישראל|trans-title=The Liberal Revolution; Political Mergers: A Study of the Liberal Party in Israel|year=2013|first=Dror|last=Zeigerman|author-link=Dror Zeigerman

|isbn=9789651908903|publisher=Schocken Books}} and the leftist faction forming the Independent Liberals.

  • 1988: The LP and Herut formally merge transforming Likud from an electoral coalition to a unitary political party.

=From Progressive Party to Independent Liberals=

  • 1948: The Progressive Party (PP) is formed.{{cite web |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionPage_eng.asp?PG=82 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040905075858/http://knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionPage_eng.asp?PG=82 |archive-date=2004-09-05 |title=Parliamentary Groups in the Knesset}}
  • 1961: The PP merges with the General Zionists to become the Liberal Party (LP).
  • 1965: The Independent Liberals are founded by splinters from the LP.{{Cite web|url=https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/independent-liberals|title = Independent Liberals}}{{cite web |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionPage_eng.asp?PG=53 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040905075701/http://knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionPage_eng.asp?PG=53 |archive-date=2004-09-05 |title=Parliamentary Groups in the Knesset}}
  • 1984: The party joins the Alignment electoral list.
  • 1991: The party is formally merged into the Labor Party.

=Shinui, Democratic Movement, Shinui, Hetz, Yesh Atid, Hosen and minor parties=

  • 1973: Amnon Rubinstein forms Shinui.{{Cite web|url=https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/shinui|title=Shinui}}{{cite web |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionPage_eng.asp?PG=160 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040905080345/http://knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionPage_eng.asp?PG=160 |archive-date=2004-09-05 |title=Parliamentary Groups in the Knesset}}
  • 1976: Shinui merges with other minor liberal parties to become the Democratic Movement for Change (Dash).{{Cite web|url=https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/dash|title = Dash}}
  • 1977: Dash wins 11.6% of the vote and 15 seats in the general election.
  • 1978: Dash splits into the Democratic Movement and the Movement for Change and Initiative.
  • 1981: The Movement for Change and Initiative renames itself Shinui.
  • 1988: Shinui is renamed Shinui–Center Party.
  • 1992: The party merges with Mapam and Ratz to form Meretz,{{cite book|title=מגמות בחברה הישראלית|editor-first1=Zeev|editor-last1=Shavit|editor-link1=Zeev Shavit|editor-first2=Ephraim|editor-last2=Yuchtman-Yaar|volume=2|year=2001|page=1166|publisher=Open University of Israel|trans-title=Trends in Israeli Society}} a social-democratic party.
  • 1998: Avraham Poraz leads a split from Meretz and recreates Shinui as an independent party.
  • 1999: Tommy Lapid is invited by Poraz to head Shinui.
  • 2003: The party wins 12.3% of the vote and 15 seats in the general election.
  • 2006: Lapid leaves Shinui and Poraz forms Hetz.{{cite news|newspaper=The Times of Israel|title=Livni heading for 10 seats, and Barak will make it back into the Knesset, poll shows|first=Yoel|last=Goldman|date=23 November 2012|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/livni-heading-for-10-seats-and-barak-will-make-it-back-into-the-knesset-poll-shows/}}
  • 2006: Both Shinui and Hetz fail to win any seats in the general election.
  • 2012: Poraz allows Tzipi Livni to use the Hetz's infrastructure to base her new party, Hatnua.
  • 2012: Yair Lapid, Tommy's son, launches Yesh Atid.
  • 2013: In the general election Yesh Atid wins 14.3% and 19 seats.
  • 2015: In the general election Yesh Atid is reduced to 8.8% of the vote and 11 seats.
  • 2018: Benny Gantz launches the Hosen, a broad centrist party whose economic goals are liberal.{{cite news|title=Gantz declares himself politically flexible|first=Gil|last=Hoffman|author-link=Gil Hoffman|date=31 December 2018|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post|url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/gantz-declares-himself-politically-flexible-575978}} Orly Levy, a splinter from Yisrael Beiteinu, forms Gesher.
  • 2019: In the run-up of the April general election Yesh Atid, Hosen and the newly-formed Telem, led by former Likud minister Moshe Ya'alon, join forces into Blue and White. The list wins 26.1% and 35 seats, while Gesher 1.7% and no seats. In the September general election the Blue and White list comes first with 26.1% and 33 seats, while Gesher obtains one seat for its leader Levy in alliance with the Labor Party.
  • 2020: In the general election Blue and White increases its tallies to 26.6% and 33 seats, but comes second after Likud. After the election, Blue and White splits over the formation of a national-unity government along with Likud: Hosen, which retains the "Blue and White" name, on one side, Yesh Atid and Telem on the other. In the event, a minority faction of Telem splits and forms Derekh Eretz, supporting the national-unity government along with Hosen. In December Derekh Eretz joins New Hope. Also in December Ofer Shelah, a splinter from Yesh Atid, announces his intent of forming a new political party named Tnufa, while, on the left, Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai leaves the Labor Party to launch The Israelis, which was joined also by leading splinters from Hosen / Blue and White.
  • 2021: In the run-up of the general election Yesh Atid and Telem part ways, and the latter finally drops out. In the election Yesh Atid wins 13.9% and 17 seats, Blue and White 6.6% and 8 seats, New Hope 4.7% and 6 seats. All three parties go on to be part of the 36th government of Israel, with Yesh Atid being the largest faction.

=Splits from and mergers into Likud=

= Zehut =

= Liberal party factions =

|script-title=he:מעכשיו אנחנו גם בטוויטר 🙂 אנו שואפים לקדם בישראל חופש בשלושה מובנים: חופש מדיני- סיום השלטון הצבאי ביו"ש. חופש כלכלי- מינימום התערבות ממשלתית. חופש הפרט- החופש של כל אחד לחיות לפי בחירתו בכל המובנים, לפי אורח חייו, אמונתו, מיניותו וכד', כל עוד הוא אינו פוגע ישירות באחר. |language=he |trans-title=From now on we are also on Twitter 🙂 We strive to promote freedom in Israel in three ways: Political freedom - the end of military rule in Judea and Samaria. Economic freedom - minimum government intervention. The freedom of the individual - the freedom of everyone to live according to his choice in all respects, according to his lifestyle, faith, sexuality, etc., as long as he does not directly harm the other. |url=https://twitter.com/MeretzLiberals/status/1290354725863460866}} The group also pushes for a repeal of the Conscription law, School choice, reduction of import tariffs, reduction of regulation, separation of church and state, establishing a constitution for Israel, and lowering the electoral threshold.{{Cite web |script-title=he:הליברלים במרצ |language=he |trans-title=Meretz Liberals |via=Facebook |url=https://www.facebook.com/libmeretz/posts/2304476356532841 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/2297697867210690/2304476356532841 |archive-date=2022-02-26 |url-access=limited}}{{cbignore}}

Media

See also

References

{{reflist}}

{{Asia topic|Liberalism in}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberalism In Israel}}

Israel

Category:Politics of Israel