La'am was a political faction in Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 that formed part of 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...

 between 1976 and 1984.

History

Between its formation in 1973 and formal merger in 1988, Likud consisted of an alliance of several right wing parties. The two largest blocs were 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...

, which had formed the 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:...

 alliance between 1965 and 1973. In 1973 the two parties were joined by the Free Centre

Free Centre

The Free Centre was a political party in Israel, and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Likud.-Background:The party was created on 29 March 1967 during the sixth Knesset when Shmuel Tamir led a breakaway of three Herut members after a leadership dispute with Menachem Begin...

, the Independent Centre

Independent Centre

-History:The faction was established by Eliezer Shostak and Ehud Olmert in 1974 when they broke away from the Free Centre, a member of the Likud alliance. The new faction remained part of Likud....

 (a breakaway from the Free Centre

Free Centre

The Free Centre was a political party in Israel, and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Likud.-Background:The party was created on 29 March 1967 during the sixth Knesset when Shmuel Tamir led a breakaway of three Herut members after a leadership dispute with Menachem Begin...

), 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...

 and the Movement for Greater Israel

Movement for Greater Israel

The Movement for Greater Israel was a political organisation in Israel during the 1960s and 1970s which subscribed to an ideology of Greater Israel....

.

In 1976, the latter three formed an alliance within the Likud bloc, named La'am, which consisted of eight of Likud's 39 seats. In 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...

 La'am remained at eight seats, with Likud growing to 43.

On 15 May 1979, Moshe Shamir

Moshe Shamir

Moshe Shamir was an Israeli author, playwright, opinion writer, and public figure.-Biography:...

, the Movement for Greater Israel representative, left Likud to sit as an independent, later establishing 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...

 with Geula Cohen

Geula Cohen

Geulah Cohen is an Israeli former Irgun and Lehi member, politician, and journalist.-Biography:Geulah Cohen was born in Tel Aviv during the British Mandate of Palestine...

. On 26 January 1981 three of its members, Yigal Hurvitz

Yigal Hurvitz

Yigal Hurvitz was an Israeli politician who served as a government minister in the late 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:Hurvitz was born in Nahlat Yehuda in 1918. Between 1938 and 1941 he was a member of the secretariat of HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed, and served in the Jewish Brigade during World War II...

, Zalman Shoval

Zalman Shoval

Zalman Shoval is an Israeli politician and diplomat.He was the Israeli ambassador to the United States in the years 1990-1993 and 1998–2000, and an active member of the Knesset in the Rafi party of Ben Gurion, the Statal List, and the Likud party.-Biography:...

 and Yitzhak Peretz

Yitzhak Peretz (politician born 1936)

Yitzhak Peretz was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1974 and 1988.-Biography:Born in Casablanca in Morocco in 1936, Peretz made aliyah to Israel in 1950. He attended the Mikveh Yisrael agricultural high school, and later Bar-Ilan University. In 1956 he joined...

, left Likud to re-establish the 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...

 as an independent party. Hurvitz and Shoval left to form 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...

, whilst Peretz returned to Likud and La'am.

La'am was reduced to five seats from Likud's 48 in the June 1981 elections

Israeli 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...

, following disputes within Likud about the number of seats allocated to each faction in which many Herut members felt the Liberal Party and La'am were over-represented. On 26 October 1982 it was reduced to three seats as Amnon Linn

Amnon Linn

-Biography:Linn was born in Mishmar HaEmek to Hava and David Linn. He became a member of the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement in 1940, and in 1942 joined the Palmach, fighting in Haifa. He met his wife, Ruth Hushi, daughter of Abba Hushi in 1945, and married her later that same year...

 and Peretz defected to the Alignment

Alignment (political party)

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...

. However, it gained an extra MK when Avraham Hirschson

Avraham Hirschson

Avraham Hirchson was an Israeli politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Likud and Kadima between 1981 and 1984, and again from 1992 until 2009. He also held the posts of Minister of Communications, Minister of Finance and Minister of Tourism...

 replaced Liberal faction member Simha Erlich

Simha Erlich

Simha Erlich was an Israeli politician. He was the leader of the Liberal Party and Minister of Finance under Menachem Begin, and is known for his attempt to liberalize the Israeli economy.-Biography:...

. In 1984, as part of a move to consolidate Likud, La'am merged into Herut. Four years later the Liberal Party and Herut formally merged to leave Likud as a unitary party.

Knesset members

Knesset	Members
8 Israeli legislative election, 1973 The Elections for the eighth Knesset were held on 31 December 1973. Voter turnout was 78.6%.-Results:1 Aryeh Eliav left the Alignment and merged with Ratz to form Ya'ad - Civil Rights Movement...  (1976-1977) 8 seats	Yigal Cohen Yigal Cohen Yigal Cohen was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1974 and 1988.-Biography:Born in Tel Adashim during the Mandate era, during his youth Cohen co-ordinated the Youth Committee of the Moshavim Movement, and was a member of both the HaNoar HaOved and Mapai... , Yigal Hurvitz Yigal Hurvitz Yigal Hurvitz was an Israeli politician who served as a government minister in the late 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:Hurvitz was born in Nahlat Yehuda in 1918. Between 1938 and 1941 he was a member of the secretariat of HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed, and served in the Jewish Brigade during World War II... , Amnon Linn Amnon Linn -Biography:Linn was born in Mishmar HaEmek to Hava and David Linn. He became a member of the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement in 1940, and in 1942 joined the Palmach, fighting in Haifa. He met his wife, Ruth Hushi, daughter of Abba Hushi in 1945, and married her later that same year... , Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003.... , Yitzhak Peretz Yitzhak Peretz (politician born 1936) Yitzhak Peretz was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1974 and 1988.-Biography:Born in Casablanca in Morocco in 1936, Peretz made aliyah to Israel in 1950. He attended the Mikveh Yisrael agricultural high school, and later Bar-Ilan University. In 1956 he joined... , Eliezer Shostak Eliezer Shostak Eliezer Shostak was an Israeli politician who served as Minister of Health from 1977 until 1984 and as a member of the Knesset from 1951 until 1988.-Biography:... , Zalman Shoval Zalman Shoval Zalman Shoval is an Israeli politician and diplomat.He was the Israeli ambassador to the United States in the years 1990-1993 and 1998–2000, and an active member of the Knesset in the Rafi party of Ben Gurion, the Statal List, and the Likud party.-Biography:... , Avraham Yafeh
9 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...  (1977-1981) 8 seats	Yigal Cohen Yigal Cohen Yigal Cohen was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1974 and 1988.-Biography:Born in Tel Adashim during the Mandate era, during his youth Cohen co-ordinated the Youth Committee of the Moshavim Movement, and was a member of both the HaNoar HaOved and Mapai... , Yigal Hurvitz Yigal Hurvitz Yigal Hurvitz was an Israeli politician who served as a government minister in the late 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:Hurvitz was born in Nahlat Yehuda in 1918. Between 1938 and 1941 he was a member of the secretariat of HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed, and served in the Jewish Brigade during World War II... ¹, Amnon Linn Amnon Linn -Biography:Linn was born in Mishmar HaEmek to Hava and David Linn. He became a member of the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement in 1940, and in 1942 joined the Palmach, fighting in Haifa. He met his wife, Ruth Hushi, daughter of Abba Hushi in 1945, and married her later that same year... , Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003.... , Yitzhak Peretz Yitzhak Peretz (politician born 1936) Yitzhak Peretz was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1974 and 1988.-Biography:Born in Casablanca in Morocco in 1936, Peretz made aliyah to Israel in 1950. He attended the Mikveh Yisrael agricultural high school, and later Bar-Ilan University. In 1956 he joined... ², Moshe Shamir Moshe Shamir Moshe Shamir was an Israeli author, playwright, opinion writer, and public figure.-Biography:... , Eliezer Shostak Eliezer Shostak Eliezer Shostak was an Israeli politician who served as Minister of Health from 1977 until 1984 and as a member of the Knesset from 1951 until 1988.-Biography:... , Zalman Shoval Zalman Shoval Zalman Shoval is an Israeli politician and diplomat.He was the Israeli ambassador to the United States in the years 1990-1993 and 1998–2000, and an active member of the Knesset in the Rafi party of Ben Gurion, the Statal List, and the Likud party.-Biography:... ¹
10 Israeli 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...  (1981-1984) 5 seats	Yigal Cohen Yigal Cohen Yigal Cohen was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1974 and 1988.-Biography:Born in Tel Adashim during the Mandate era, during his youth Cohen co-ordinated the Youth Committee of the Moshavim Movement, and was a member of both the HaNoar HaOved and Mapai... , Avraham Hirschson Avraham Hirschson Avraham Hirchson was an Israeli politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Likud and Kadima between 1981 and 1984, and again from 1992 until 2009. He also held the posts of Minister of Communications, Minister of Finance and Minister of Tourism... ³, Amnon Linn Amnon Linn -Biography:Linn was born in Mishmar HaEmek to Hava and David Linn. He became a member of the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement in 1940, and in 1942 joined the Palmach, fighting in Haifa. He met his wife, Ruth Hushi, daughter of Abba Hushi in 1945, and married her later that same year... ¹, Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003.... , Yitzhak Peretz Yitzhak Peretz (politician born 1936) Yitzhak Peretz was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1974 and 1988.-Biography:Born in Casablanca in Morocco in 1936, Peretz made aliyah to Israel in 1950. He attended the Mikveh Yisrael agricultural high school, and later Bar-Ilan University. In 1956 he joined... ¹, Eliezer Shostak Eliezer Shostak Eliezer Shostak was an Israeli politician who served as Minister of Health from 1977 until 1984 and as a member of the Knesset from 1951 until 1988.-Biography:... ,

¹ Left La'am and defected to other parties.

² Left La'am, but later returned

³ Entered Knesset as a replacement for Liberal faction member.