The
Israeli Labor Party , generally known in Israel as
Avoda is a center-left
political partyA political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns...
in
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia 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...
. It is a
social democraticSocial democracy is a political ideology of the political left and centre-left on the classic political spectrum. Social democracy emerged in the late 19th century from the socialist movement and continues to exert influence worldwide....
and
ZionistLabor Zionism can be described as the major stream of the left wing of the Zionist movement. It was, for many years, a significant tendency among Zionists and Zionist organizational structure and the major stream of the Zionist movement...
party, a member of the
Socialist InternationalThe Socialist International is a worldwide organisation of democratic socialist, social democratic, socialist, and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.- History :...
and an
observerObserver status is a privilege granted by some organizations to non-members to give them an ability to participate in the organization's activities. Observer status is often granted by intergovernmental organizations to non-member states and international nongovernmental organizations that have...
member of the
Party of European SocialistsThe Party of European Socialists is a European political party comprising thirty-two socialist, social democratic and labour parties from each European Union member state and Norway...
. From 1999 until 2008, the party was allied to the small left-wing,
religious ZionistReligious Zionism, or the Religious Zionist Movement is an ideology that combines Zionism and religious Judaism, basing Zionism on the principles of Torah, Talmud et al...
party
MeimadMeimad is a left-wing religious Zionist political party in Israel. Founded in 1999, it is based on the ideology of the Meimad movement founded in 1988 by Rabbi Yehuda Amital...
, in an electoral agreement whereby Meimad received the tenth seat on Labor's list.
Dominating political party 1948-1977
The foundations for the formation of the Israeli Labor Party were laid shortly before the
1965 Knesset electionsElections for the sixth Knesset were held in Israel on 1 November 1965. Voter turnout was 80.4%.-Results:¹ Rafi and Mapam joined the Alignment, though David Ben Gurion of Rafi disagreed with the merger and remained a single MK...
when
MapaiMapai 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.-Background:...
, the largest left-wing party in the country formed an alliance with
Ahdut HaAvodaAhdut HaAvoda was a political party that existed during several spells in Mandate Palestine and Israel. It is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Israeli Labor Party.-Ahdut HaAvoda:...
. The alliance was an attempt by Mapai to shore up the party's share of the vote following a break-away of
eight MKs (around a fifth of Mapai's Knesset faction) led by
David Ben-Gurion' was the first Prime Minister of Israel. Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, culminated in his instrumental role in the founding of the state of Israel...
to form a new party, Rafi, in protest against Mapai's failure to approve a change to the country's proportional representation voting system.
The alliance, called the
Labor AlignmentThe 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...
won 45 seats in the elections, and was able to form the government in coalition with the
National Religious PartyThe National Religious Party was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist movement...
,
MapamMapam was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.-History:...
, the
Independent LiberalsThe Independent Liberals were a political party in Israel and are one of the ancestors of the modern-day Labour Party.-History:...
,
Agudat Israel WorkersAgudat 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 .-History:...
,
Progress and DevelopmentProgress 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 BrotherhoodCooperation and Brotherhood was a political party in Israel.-History:Cooperation and Brotherhood was an Israeli Arab organisation formed to participate in the 1959 elections...
. After the
Six-Day WarThe Six-Day War of June 5-10, 1967 was a war between the Israel army and the armies of the neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The Arab states of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria also contributed troops and arms. At the war's end, Israel had gained control of the...
broke out, Rafi and
GahalGahal 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:...
joined the coalition.
On 23 January 1968 Mapai, Ahdut HaAvoda and Rafi (with the exception of Ben-Gurion, who formed the
National ListThe 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...
in protest) merged into one body; the Israeli Labor Party. On 28 January 1969, the party allied itself with Mapam, the alliance becoming known as the
AlignmentThe 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...
.
As the largest faction within the Alignment, Labor came to dominate it. Mapam left during the
eighth KnessetThe Elections for the eighth Knesset were held on 31 December 1973. Voter turnout was 76.9%-Results:1 Aryeh Eliav left the Alignment and merged with Ratz to form Ya'ad - Civil Rights Movement...
, but rejoined shortly afterwards.
Opposition and comeback 1977-2001
In the
1977 electionsThe 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...
, Labor for the first time ended up in opposition. They failed to take revanch four years later, but following the
1984 electionsElections for the eleventh Knesset were held in Israel on 23 July 1984. Voter turnout was 78.1%.-Results:1 Mapam and the Arab Democratic Party broke away from the Alignment, whilst one MK defected to Ratz and one to Shinui....
, they were able to join a national unity government with
LikudLikud 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...
, with the post as Prime Minister rotating between the two parties.
Mapam broke away again during the eleventh Knesset, angry at
Shimon Peres's' is the ninth and current President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as 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...
decision to form a national unity government with Likud. Although the Independent Liberals merged into the Alignment in the 1980s, they had no Knesset representation at the time.
On 7 October 1991 the Alignment ceased to exist, with all factions formally merged into the Labor Party. At this time, the Likud Government faced numerous problems, such as economic problems, the challenge of assimilating a large influx of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, serious tension with the American government under George H.W. Bush and internal division. Led by
Yitzhak Rabin' was an Israeli politician and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995. In 1994, Rabin won the Nobel Peace Prize together with Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat...
, Labor won the
1992 electionsElections for the thirteenth Knesset were held in Israel on 23 June, 1992. The result was a victory for the left, led by Yitzhak Rabin's Labour Party, though their win was at least partially due to several small right-wing parties narrowly failing to cross the electoral threshold and thus...
and formed the government together with Meretz and
ShasShas is a political party in Israel, primarily representing Haredi Sephardi and Mizrahi Judaism. Following the 2009 elections in which Shas won 11 seats, it joined Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government and holds four cabinet posts...
.
The subsequent role of Labor became to a large extent tied to the controversial Oslo process, based on the principle "land for peace". The
Oslo AccordsThe Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles became a milestone toward the resolution of the Palestinian - Israeli conflict, one of the major continuing issues within the wider Arab-Israeli conflict...
led to a vote of confidence, which the Government won with a margin of 61-50 (8 abstained). Several MK:s from the Government parties declined to support the Government, but on the other hand, the Arab parties came to its rescue. Due to the lack of a constitution in Israel, the Government was able to implement the accords with a thin margin.
Rabin's decision to advance peace talks with the Palestinians to the point of signing the
Oslo AccordsThe Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles became a milestone toward the resolution of the Palestinian - Israeli conflict, one of the major continuing issues within the wider Arab-Israeli conflict...
led to his
his assassinationThe assassination of Yitzhak Rabin took place on November 4, 1995 at 21:30, at the end of a rally in support of the Oslo Accords at the Kings of Israel Square in Tel Aviv...
by
Yigal AmirYigal Amir is the Israeli assassin of Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin. The assassination took place November 4, 1995 at the conclusion of a rally in Tel Aviv...
in 1995. Peres decided to call early elections in 1996 to give him a mandate for advancing the peace process. However, his ploy failed; although Labor won the most seats in the
Knesset electionElections for the fourteenth Knesset were held in Israel alongside the first ever election for Prime Minister on 29 May, 1996. Voter turnout was 79.3%.- Results :1 One Nation broke away from Labour....
, he lost to the
election for Prime MinisterThe first ever election for Prime Minister was held in Israel on 29 May 1996 alongside simultaneous Knesset elections. There were only two candidates, Shimon Peres of the Labour Party and Binyamin Netanyahu of Likud. The result was a surprise win for Netanyahu by just 29,000 votes, less than 1% of...
to
Benjamin NetanyahuBenjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He previously held the same position from June 1996 to July 1999 and is currently the Chairman of the Likud Party....
following a wave of suicide bombings by
HamasHamas is a Palestinian Islamic socio-political organization which includes a paramilitary force, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
. Netanyahu and Likud were thus able to form the government.
With his coalition falling apart, Netanyahu decided to call early elections in 1999.
Ehud BarakEhud Barak is an Israeli politician, former Prime Minister, and current Minister of Defense, deputy prime minister and leader of Israel's Labor Party....
won the internal primaries, and was nominated as the Labor candidate for Prime Minister. Meanwhile, the party entered an electoral alliance with
MeimadMeimad is a left-wing religious Zionist political party in Israel. Founded in 1999, it is based on the ideology of the Meimad movement founded in 1988 by Rabbi Yehuda Amital...
and Gesher called
One IsraelOne Israel was an alliance of the Israeli Labour Party, Meimad and Gesher created to run for the 1999 Knesset elections.-Background:...
. Barak won the
Prime Minister electionThe second Prime Ministerial election in Israel was held on 17 May, 1999 alongside elections for the 15th Knesset.-Context:This was only the second election for Prime Minister in Israel, the 1996 vote having been an extremely tight contest between Binyamin Netanyahu and Shimon Peres.The vote was...
, whilst One Israel won the Knesset elections, albeit with only 26 seats.
Barak started by forming a 75-member coalition together with
ShasShas is a political party in Israel, primarily representing Haredi Sephardi and Mizrahi Judaism. Following the 2009 elections in which Shas won 11 seats, it joined Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government and holds four cabinet posts...
,
MeretzThe New Movement-Meretz , previously known as Meretz, then Yachad, and then Meretz-Yachad is a left-wing, Zionist, social democratic political party in Israel, which emphasizes the strive for peace, human rights, religious freedom and green politics.-History:Meretz was formed in 1992 prior to the...
, Yisrael BaAliyah, the
National Religious PartyThe National Religious Party was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist movement...
and
United Torah JudaismUnited Torah Judaism is an alliance of Degel HaTorah and Agudat Israel, two small Israeli Haredi political parties in the Knesset. It was first formed in 1992....
. The coalition with religious parties (NRP, Shas and UTJ) caused tensions with the secularist Meretz, who quit the coalition after a disagreement with Shas over the authority of the Deputy Education Minister. The rest of the parties left before the
Camp David 2000 summitThe Middle East Peace Summit at Camp David of July 2000 took place between United States President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat...
.
Decline 2001-
Following the October 2000 riots and the violence of the
al-Aqsa IntifadaThe Second Intifada, also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada was the second Palestinian uprising, a period of intensified Palestinian-Israeli violence, which began in late September 2000...
, Barak resigned from office. He then lost a special election for Prime Minister to
LikudLikud 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...
's
Ariel Sharon' is an Israeli general and statesman, former Israeli Prime Minister...
. However, Labor remained in Sharon's coalition as he formed a
national unity governmentA national government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other national emergency.- Canada :During World War I the Conservative government of Sir Robert Borden invited the Liberal opposition to join the...
with Likud, Labor, Shas, Yisrael BaAliyah and United Torah Judaism, and were given two of the most important cabinet portfolios; Peres was appointed
Minister of Foreign AffairsThe Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel is the political head of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The position is one of the most important in the Israeli cabinet after Prime Minister and Defense Minister...
and Benjanin Ben-Eliezer was made Defense Minister. Labor supported
Operation Defensive ShieldOperation Defensive Shield was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002, during the course of the Second Intifada. It was the largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War...
, which was conducted in April 2002 against Palestinian terrorists in the
West BankThe West Bank is a landlocked territory and is the eastern part of the Palestinian territories; on the west bank of the River Jordan in the Middle East. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel, which maintains the security of this area. To the east,...
. After harsh criticism that Peres and Ben-Elizer were "puppets" of Sharon and not promoting the peace process, Labor quit the government in 2003.
Prior to the 2003 elections,
Amram MitznaAmram Mitzna is an Israeli politician and former general. He is the acting mayor of Yeruham, the former mayor of Haifa and lead the Labour Party from 2002 to 2003.-Youth, studies and military service:...
won the party primaries, and led the party into the election with a platform that included unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The party was routed in the elections, winning only 19 seats (its lowest ever), whilst Sharon's Likud won 38 (40 after Yisrael BaAliyah merged into the party). Subsequently, due to internal opposition, Mitzna resigned from the party leadership, and soon there after was replaced by Shimon Peres. Despite being omitted from the original right-wing coalition, Sharon invited Labor into the coalition to shore up support for the
disengagement planIsrael's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut") was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict...
(effectively Mitzna's policy which he had earlier lambasted) after the
National UnionThe National Union is a nationalist political party in Israel. In the 2009 elections the Union was an alliance of four parties: Moledet, Hatikva, Eretz Yisrael Shelanu, and Tkuma.-Background:...
and the
National Religious PartyThe National Religious Party was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist movement...
had left the government.
On 8 November 2005 Shimon Peres was replaced as the leader of the Labor party by the election of left-wing Histadrut union leader
Amir PeretzAmir Peretz is an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset for the Labour Party. He is a former Defense Minister of Israel and former leader of the Labour Party, having left those positions in June 2007....
in an internal Labor party ballot. Over the years, Labor had abandoned its socialist heritage in favor of economic and business elites. Now a party of the wealthy and passed the mantle of custodian of the underprivileged to right-wing and religious parties. Peretz stated his intention to reassert Labor's traditional socialist policies and took Labor party out of the government, prompting Sharon to resign and call for new elections in March 2006. Prior to the election, the political map had been redrawn, as Sharon and the majority of Likud's MK:s, together with a number of Labor MK:s, including Shimon Peres, and some from other parties, had formed
KadimaKadima was founded as a centrist political party in Israel by moderates from Likud soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians. It became the largest party in the Knesset after the 2006 elections, winning 29 of the 120 seats...
. In the elections Labor won 19 seats, making it the second largest party after Kadima. It joined
Ehud OlmertEhud Olmert is an Israeli political figure, and former Prime Minister of Israel having served from 2006 to 2009. Olmert was the mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003. In 2003 he was elected to the Knesset and became a minister and Acting Prime Minister in the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon...
's Kadima-led government, with Peretz appointed Defense Minister. Labor's main coalition demand and campaign promise was raising the minimum wage.
On 28 May 2007 a leadership election resulted in Ehud Barak and Ami Ayalon beating Peretz into third place. In the run-off election (required as neither Barak nor Ayalon received over 40% of the vote), Barak was re-elected as party chairman. Despite stating that he would withdraw the party from the government unless Olmert resigned, Barak remained in government and took over as Defense Minister.
Prior to the
2009 electionsElections for the 18th Knesset were held in Israel on 10 February 2009. These elections became necessary due to the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as leader of the Kadima party, and the failure of his successor, Tzipi Livni, to form a coalition government...
Labor and Meimad ended their alliance, with Meimad ultimately running a joint list with the Green Movement (which did not pass the electoral threshold). Several prominent members left the party, including
Ami AyalonAmihai "Ami" Ayalon is an Israeli politician and a former member of the Knesset for the Labor Party. He was previously head of the Shin Bet, Israel's secret service, and commander-in-chief of the Navy...
, and
Efraim SnehEfraim Sneh is an Israeli politician and physician. He has been a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party and served briefly in the current Government as Deputy Defense Minister...
(who formed
Yisrael HazakaYisrael Hazaka is a new political party in Israel. It was established by former Labor Party MK Efraim Sneh on 25 May 2008. It participated in the 2009 Knesset elections but failed to pass the electoral threshold, not receiving any seats.-Background:The party was established in May 2008, and...
). In the elections Labor was reduced to just 13 seats, making it the fourth largest party behind Kadima, Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu.
Analyzing the downfall of the once dominant political party in Israel, Efraim Inbar of the
Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic StudiesThe Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies , is an independent academic body aspiring to contribute to promoting peace and security in the Middle East, through policy-oriented researches on national security in the Middle East, that is located near the Political Science department within Bar-Ilan...
points to several factors. By forfeiting identification with the establishment and building of the State of Israel, symbolized by a predilection for military service and by the settling of the land of Israel, Labor lost its most important asset. Deserting the Zionist symbol of Jerusalem, by showing willingness to cede part of it to the enemy was an ill-fated move. When cosmopolitan and individualist values made inroads into the party, it distanced itself from the collectivist ethos that has been dominant and is still widespread in Israel. By making their stake on the Oslo process, they could not avoid being discredited by its fiasco. Demographic factors have worked against Labor, as the growing Sefardi population, as well as the recent Russian-Jewish immigrants, have largely voted for other parties. Flirting with the
Israeli ArabArab citizens of Israel is a phrase used by Israeli and other government and independent agencies to refer to Israeli citizens whose cultural and/or linguistic heritage, and ethnic identity, is Arab, including members of any religious tradition other than Jewish...
voters has been devastating for the image of the party, and yielded no harvest.
Past
Mapai evolved from the socialist
Poale ZionPoale Zion was a Movement of Marxist Zionist Jewish workers circles founded in various cities of the Russian Empire about the turn of the century after the Bund rejected Zionism in 1901.-Formation and early years:Poale Zion parties and organisations were started across the Jewish diaspora in the...
movement and adhered to the Socialist Zionist ideology promulgated by Nahum Syrkin and
Ber BorochovDov Ber Borochov was a Marxist Zionist and one of the founders of the Labor Zionist movement as well as a pioneer in the study of Yiddish as a language....
. During Ben-Gurion's leadership (1930s-1950s), Mapai focused mainly on the Zionist agenda, since it was the most urgent issue then - establishing a national homeland for
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s.
After the founding of the state of Israel, Mapai engaged in nation building - the establishment of the
Israel Defense ForcesThe Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are Israel's military forces, comprising the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
(while dismantling every other armed group), the establishment of many settlements, the settling of more than 1,000,000 Jewish immigrants and the desire to unite all the inhabitants of Israel under a new Zionist Jewish Israeli culture (an ideology known as the "
Melting potThe melting pot is an analogy for the way in which heterogeneous societies become more homogeneous, in which the ingredients in the pot are combined so as to develop a multi-ethnic society...
" כור היתוך).
Labor in the past was more hawkish on security and defense issues than it is today. During its years in office, Israel has fought the
1956 Sinai WarThe Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, was a military attack on Egypt by Britain, France, and Israel beginning on 29 October 1956....
, the
Six-Day WarThe Six-Day War of June 5-10, 1967 was a war between the Israel army and the armies of the neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The Arab states of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria also contributed troops and arms. At the war's end, Israel had gained control of the...
and the
Yom Kippur WarThe 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 October 26, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of...
.
Current
In recent years (up until 2005), Labor became a centrist party. It was no longer considered socialist or social democratic (though it retained membership in the
Socialist InternationalThe Socialist International is a worldwide organisation of democratic socialist, social democratic, socialist, and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.- History :...
) but had a centrist platform, similar to the third-way of
British Labour PartyThe Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century, it has been seen since 1920 as the principal party of the Left in England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland, where it has only recently begun to organise again...
under
Tony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
. Economic policies in Israel being seldom hotly debated even within the major parties, actual policies depended much more on initiative by the civil service than on political ideologies. Therefore, Labor's terms in office during this period did not differ significantly in terms of economic policy from those of its rival.
In November 2005,
Amir PeretzAmir Peretz is an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset for the Labour Party. He is a former Defense Minister of Israel and former leader of the Labour Party, having left those positions in June 2007....
, leader of the social democratic One Nation which had merged into Labor, was elected chairman of the party, defeating
Shimon Peres' is the ninth and current President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as 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...
. Under Peretz, and especially in the 2006 electoral campaign, the party took a significant ideological turn, putting social and economic issues on top of its agenda, and advocating a moderate social democratic approach (including increases in minimum wage and social security payments), in sharp contrast to the neo-liberal policies led by former Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
In 2006, several members of the ILP left to join the new centrist grouping,
KadimaKadima was founded as a centrist political party in Israel by moderates from Likud soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians. It became the largest party in the Knesset after the 2006 elections, winning 29 of the 120 seats...
; these included former Labor leader Shimon Peres,
Haim RamonHaim Ramon is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Kadima and as both Vice Prime Minister and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office with responsibility for state policy.-Biography:...
, and
Dalia ItzikDalia Itzik , born 20 October 1952, is an Israeli politician who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for Kadima. She has previously served in several minsterial positions, and on 4 May 2006 became the first female speaker of the Knesset on 4 May 2006, and has since served as President of...
.
The international media has described the Labor Party as center-left, social democratic, and dovish.
Party leaders
- 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.-Early life:...
1968-1969 (also leader of the Alignment)
- Golda Meir
Golda Meir was the fourth prime minister of the State of Israel....
1969-1974 (also leader of the Alignment)
- Yitzhak Rabin
' was an Israeli politician and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995. In 1994, Rabin won the Nobel Peace Prize together with Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat...
1974-1977 (also leader of the Alignment)
- Shimon Peres
' is the ninth and current President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as 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...
1977-1992 (also leader of the Alignment)
- Yitzhak Rabin
' was an Israeli politician and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995. In 1994, Rabin won the Nobel Peace Prize together with Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat...
1992-1995
- Shimon Peres
' is the ninth and current President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as 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...
1995-1997
- Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician, former Prime Minister, and current Minister of Defense, deputy prime minister and leader of Israel's Labor Party....
1997-2001
- Binyamin Ben-Eliezer
Brigadier-General Binyamin "Fuad" Ben-Eliezer is an Israeli politician and former soldier of Iraqi origin. He currently serves as a member of the Knesset for the Israeli Labor Party, and as the country's Minister of Industry, Trade & Labour...
2001-2002
- Amram Mitzna
Amram Mitzna is an Israeli politician and former general. He is the acting mayor of Yeruham, the former mayor of Haifa and lead the Labour Party from 2002 to 2003.-Youth, studies and military service:...
2002-2003
- Shimon Peres
' is the ninth and current President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as 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...
2003-2005
- Amir Peretz
Amir Peretz is an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset for the Labour Party. He is a former Defense Minister of Israel and former leader of the Labour Party, having left those positions in June 2007....
2005-2007
- Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician, former Prime Minister, and current Minister of Defense, deputy prime minister and leader of Israel's Labor Party....
2007-
Other prominent members
Prominent former members include:
- Yigal Allon
Yigal Allon was an Israeli politician, a commander of the Palmach, and a general in the IDF. He served as one of the leaders of Ahdut HaAvoda party and the Israeli Labor party, acting Prime Minister of Israel, as well as being a member of Knesset and government minister from the tenth through the...
- Acting Prime-Minister
- 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...
- Defense Minister
- Abba Eban
Abba Eban was an Israeli diplomat and politician.-Political career:...
- Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Chaim Herzog
Chaim Herzog served as the sixth President of Israel , following a distinguished career in both the British Army and the Israel Defense Forces .-Early life:...
- President of Israel
- Efraim Katzir - President of Israel
- Yitzhak Navon
Yitzhak Navon is an Israeli politician, diplomat and author. He was the fifth President of Israel, as well as the first born in the future territory of the State, then the British Mandate of Palestine. The previous four Presidents were all born in the Russian Empire...
- President of Israel
- Zalman Shazar
Zalman Shazar was an Israeli politician, author and poet. Shazar served as the third President of Israel from 1963 to 1973.-Biography:...
- President of Israel
- Ezer Weizman
' was the seventh President of Israel, first elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1998. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli Air Force and Minister of Defense.-Biography:...
- President of Israel
Current MKs
- Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician, former Prime Minister, and current Minister of Defense, deputy prime minister and leader of Israel's Labor Party....
- Isaac Herzog
- Ophir Pines-Paz
Ophir Pines-Paz is an Israeli politician and former Internal Affairs Minister. He is currently a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party, and the Chairman of the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee.-Biography:...
- Avishay Braverman
- Shelly Yachimovich
6.
Matan VilnaiMatan Vilnai is an Israeli politician and a former Major General in the Israel Defense Forces . He is currently Deputy Defense Minister and a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party.-Biography:...
7. Eitan Cabel
8.
Binyamin Ben-EliezerBrigadier-General Binyamin "Fuad" Ben-Eliezer is an Israeli politician and former soldier of Iraqi origin. He currently serves as a member of the Knesset for the Israeli Labor Party, and as the country's Minister of Industry, Trade & Labour...
9.
Yuli TamirYael "Yuli" Tamir is an Israeli academic, politician and former Minister of Immigrant Absorption and former Minister of Education and represents the Labor Party in the Knesset.-Biography:...
10.
Amir PeretzAmir Peretz is an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset for the Labour Party. He is a former Defense Minister of Israel and former leader of the Labour Party, having left those positions in June 2007....
11.
Daniel Ben-SimonDaniel Ben-Simon is an Israeli journalist and politician who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party.-Biography:...
12.
Shalom SimhonShalom Simhon is an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset for the Labor Party. He currently serves as the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Israeli cabinet.-Biography:...
13.
Orit NokedOrit Noked is an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset for the Labor Party.-Biography:Born in Jerusalem in 1952, Noked studied law at university. She became a legal advisor to the Kibbutz Movement in 1986, a job she held until 1992. Between 1996 and 2002 she served as director of the...
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