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The General Zionists (Tzionim Klalim) were centrists
Centrism

In politics, centrism usually refers to the political idea of promoting moderate policies which land in the middle between different political extremes....
 within the Zionist
Zionism

Zionism is the international Jewish political movement that originally supported the reestablishment of a homeland for the Jewish People in Palestine....
 movement and a political party
List of political parties in Israel

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....
 in Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
. Their political arm is an ancestor of the modern-day Likud
Likud

Likud is the major center-right List of political parties in Israel in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin, largely as the "direct ideological descendant" of the Herut, in an alliance with several other right-wing and liberal parties....
 and Kadima
Kadima

Kadima is a centrist List of political parties in Israel in Israel founded by like-minded Likud and Israeli Labor Party politicians. It became the largest party in the Knesset after the Israeli legislative election, 2006, winning 29 of the 120 seats....
 parties.

ral Zionism was initially the term to refer to the beliefs of the majority of members of the Zionist Organization
World Zionist Organization

The World Zionist Organization , or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization , or ZO, in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress, held from August 29 to August 31 in Basel, Switzerland....
 [ZO] who had not joined a specific faction
Political faction

A political faction is a grouping of individuals, especially within a political organization, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a political purpose....
 or party and belonged to their countrywide Zionist organizations only.

In 1922, various non-aligned groups and individuals established the Organization of General Zionists as a non-ideological party within the Zionist Organization (later the World Zionist Organization) at a time when the Zionist movement was becoming polarized between Labour Zionists and Revisionist Zionism
Revisionist Zionism

Revisionist Zionism is a Nationalism faction within the Zionism movement. The ideology was developed originally by Ze'ev Jabotinsky who advocated a "revision" of the "practical Zionism" of David Ben Gurion and Chaim Weizmann, which was focused on independent settlement of Eretz Yisrael....
.

However, eventually the General Zionists became identified with European liberal
Liberalism

Liberalism is a broad class of political philosophy that considers individualism liberty and equality to be the most important political goals....
 and middle class
Middle class

Middle class is the group of people in contemporary society who are between the working class and nobility. This socioeconomic class includes professionals, highly skilled workers, and lower and middle management....
 beliefs in private property and capitalism
Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system in which wealth, and the means of producing wealth, are private property and controlled rather than commonly, publicly, or state-owned and controlled....
.






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The General Zionists (Tzionim Klalim) were centrists
Centrism

In politics, centrism usually refers to the political idea of promoting moderate policies which land in the middle between different political extremes....
 within the Zionist
Zionism

Zionism is the international Jewish political movement that originally supported the reestablishment of a homeland for the Jewish People in Palestine....
 movement and a political party
List of political parties in Israel

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....
 in Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
. Their political arm is an ancestor of the modern-day Likud
Likud

Likud is the major center-right List of political parties in Israel in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin, largely as the "direct ideological descendant" of the Herut, in an alliance with several other right-wing and liberal parties....
 and Kadima
Kadima

Kadima is a centrist List of political parties in Israel in Israel founded by like-minded Likud and Israeli Labor Party politicians. It became the largest party in the Knesset after the Israeli legislative election, 2006, winning 29 of the 120 seats....
 parties.

History

General Zionism was initially the term to refer to the beliefs of the majority of members of the Zionist Organization
World Zionist Organization

The World Zionist Organization , or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization , or ZO, in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress, held from August 29 to August 31 in Basel, Switzerland....
 [ZO] who had not joined a specific faction
Political faction

A political faction is a grouping of individuals, especially within a political organization, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a political purpose....
 or party and belonged to their countrywide Zionist organizations only.

In 1922, various non-aligned groups and individuals established the Organization of General Zionists as a non-ideological party within the Zionist Organization (later the World Zionist Organization) at a time when the Zionist movement was becoming polarized between Labour Zionists and Revisionist Zionism
Revisionist Zionism

Revisionist Zionism is a Nationalism faction within the Zionism movement. The ideology was developed originally by Ze'ev Jabotinsky who advocated a "revision" of the "practical Zionism" of David Ben Gurion and Chaim Weizmann, which was focused on independent settlement of Eretz Yisrael....
.

However, eventually the General Zionists became identified with European liberal
Liberalism

Liberalism is a broad class of political philosophy that considers individualism liberty and equality to be the most important political goals....
 and middle class
Middle class

Middle class is the group of people in contemporary society who are between the working class and nobility. This socioeconomic class includes professionals, highly skilled workers, and lower and middle management....
 beliefs in private property and capitalism
Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system in which wealth, and the means of producing wealth, are private property and controlled rather than commonly, publicly, or state-owned and controlled....
. From 1931 to 1945 the General Zionist movement was divided into two factions due to differences over social issues, economics and labour issues (e.g. the Histadrut
Histadrut

The Histadrut or HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael is the Israeli trade union congress.It was founded in December 1920 in Haifa as a Jewish trade union which would also provide services for members such as an employment exchange, sick pay, and consumer benefits....
). In the years following the establishment of the state of Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
 in 1948, the General Zionists moved towards the right in opposition to the hegemony of Mapai
Mapai

Mapai was a Left-wing politics List of political parties in Israel in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in 1968....
 and other Labour Zionist movements in Israeli politics.

Political activity in Israel

The General Zionists entered the elections for the first Knesset
Israeli legislative election, 1949

Elections in Israel for the Constituent Assembly were held in newly-independent Israel on 25 January, 1949. Voter turnout was 85.8%. Two days after its first meeting on 14 February, 1949, legislators voted to change the name of the body to the Knesset ....
 in 1949. They won 5.2% of the vote and seven seats, but were not included in either of David Ben Gurion's coalition governments.

The 1951 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1951

Elections in Israel for the second Knesset were held in Israel on 30 July, 1951. Voter turnout was 74.3%....
 were a huge success, with the party winning 20 seats, making it the second largest in the Knesset
Knesset

The Knesset is the legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem....
. The party was enlarged soon after the elections when the Sephardim and Oriental Communities
Sephardim and Oriental Communities

Sephardim and Oriental Communities was a List of political parties in Israel in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Likud party....
 party and the Yemenite Association
Yemenite Association

The Yemenite Association was a List of political parties in Israel in Israel....
 merged into it (though the one Yemenite Association MK left the party again before the end of the session). Although they were not included in the coalition for the third government, they were brought into the fourth government after Ben Gurion had removed the Ultra-orthodox
Haredi Judaism

Haredi or Chareidi Judaism is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
 parties, Agudat Israel
Agudat Israel

Agudat Israel began as the original political party representing Haredi Judaism in Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all Haredi Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine....
 and Agudat Israel Workers
Agudat Israel Workers

Agudat Israel Workers was a political party in Poland, and a political party and settlement movement in Israel. It was also known as PAI or PAGI, its Hebrew acronym ....
, over the dispute over religious education
Religious education

In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion and its varied aspects —its beliefs, doctrines, rituals, customs, rites, and personal roles....
 that had brought down the previous government. They were also included in Moshe Sharett
Moshe Sharett

Moshe Sharett was the second Prime Minister of Israel , serving for a little under two years between David Ben-Gurion's two terms....
's fifth government, but not the sixth.

In the 1955 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1955

File:Elect105Ashdod55.jpgElections in Israel for the third Knesset were held in Israel on 26 July, 1955. Voter turnout was 80.7%....
 the party slumped to 13 seats, and were not included in either of the third Knesset's coalition governments.

A further slump to eight seats in the 1959 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1959

Elections in Israel for the fourth Knesset were held in Israel on 3 November, 1959. Voter turnout was 79.5%....
 and exclusion from the coalition made the party rethink their strategy. Eventually the party decided to merge with the 6-seat Progressive Party
Progressive Party (Israel)

The Progressive Party was a List of political parties in Israel in Israel....
 to form the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (Israel)

The Israeli Liberal Party was a List of political parties in Israel in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Likud....
. Nevertheless, the party helped bring down the government in 1961 when it and Herut
Herut

Herut was the major Right wing politics List of political parties in Israel in Israel from the 1940s until its formal merger into Likud in 1988, and an adherent to Revisionist Zionism....
 tabled a motion of no confidence in the government over the Lavon Affair
Lavon Affair

The Lavon Affair refers to the scandal over a failed Israeli covert operation in Egypt known as Operation Susannah, in which Israeli military intelligence planted bombs in Egyptian, United States and United Kingdom-owned targets in Egypt in the summer of 1954 in the hopes that "the Muslim Brotherhood, the Communists, 'unspecified malcon...
.

In the 1961 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1961

Elections in Israel for the fifth Knesset were held in Israel on 15 August 1961. Voter turnout was 79.0%....
 the new Israel Liberal Party
Liberal Party (Israel)

The Israeli Liberal Party was a List of political parties in Israel in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Likud....
 won 17 seats, making it the third largest in the Knesset. During the session, ten MKs (mostly former General Zionists) merged with the right-wing
Right-wing politics

In politics, right-wing, rightist and the Right are terms applied to Conservatism and reactionary positions. Originally, during the French Revolution, right-wing referred to seating arrangements in parliament; those who sat on the right supported the monarchy and aristocracy....
 Herut
Herut

Herut was the major Right wing politics List of political parties in Israel in Israel from the 1940s until its formal merger into Likud in 1988, and an adherent to Revisionist Zionism....
 to form Gahal
Gahal

Gahal was the major Right wing politics List of political parties in Israel in Israel from its founding in 1965 until it merged into Likud in 1973....
 whilst the other seven (most from the Progressive Party) set up the Independent Liberals
Independent Liberals (Israel)

The Independent Liberals were a List of political parties in Israel in Israel and are one of the ancestors of the modern-day Labor Party ....
. Gahal later became Likud
Likud

Likud is the major center-right List of political parties in Israel in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin, largely as the "direct ideological descendant" of the Herut, in an alliance with several other right-wing and liberal parties....
.

See also

  • Liberalism in Israel
    Liberalism in Israel

    Many liberalism political party in Israel's history can claim substantial popular support, mainly proved by having representation in the Knesset.Since Israel's founding, liberals have been active in politics....


External links

  • Knesset website