Israelis who go to the polls in two weeks to elect a new Knesset–the ninth–will have 22 political parties to choose from compared to 21 that ran for the Knesset in the last elections in December, 1973. Originally there were 23 lists. But Ranana, a new group representing Nazi war victims, was disqualified for technical reasons.
Not all of the parties that filed for election are expected to win Knesset seats on May 17. In fact, if past performance is any criteria, less than half will make it. In 1973 only 10 of the 21 lists won sufficient votes to be represented in Israel’s parliament.
What follows is a summary of the political programs and platforms of Israel’s various factions, beginning with those that are expected to gain the largest number of votes.
LABOR
This party was formed in 1969 by the amalgamation of the Mapai, Achdut Avoda and Rafi factions. Together with Mapam, it comprises the Labor Alignment. It can best be described as a moderate Socialist party. It is a member of the Socialist International and its closest counterparts abroad are the Social Democratic Parties of Europe and Britain’s Labor Party.
Labor’s platform has not been published so far. The party’s convention last February approved a peace plank which expressed readiness for territorial” compromise” in all sectors–including the West Bank–in exchange for a full peace settlement with the Arabs. The plank, adopted by a narrow margin, is credited with preventing a defection by Mapam from the Labor Alignment.
KEY SENTENCE IN PLANK
The key sentence in the plank reads: “The political efforts to reach a permanent peace in defensible borders with Egypt, Jordan and Syria are to be continued with readiness for territorial compromise with each one of these and with Lebanon in the present boundaries.” The Labor Party list is headed by Shimon Peres, who would become Premier in the event of a Labor victory, followed by Yigal Allon, Abba Eban and Shlomo Hillel.
The Labor Alignment traditionally has drawn its support from a much broader segment of society than the working class. By virtue of its wide appeal, Labor has been Israel’s governing party since the State was founded. In the upcoming elections it is stressing 14 candidates of Middle Eastern origin. But its list contains representatives of the kibbutz movements, urban workers and the urban intelligentsia.
LIKUD
Likud, founded in 1973, was a merger of Herut and the Liberal Party (the old Gohal Alignment) with the State List, Free Center and other small political factions. The free Center, headed by Shmuel Tamir, broke with Likud last year and joined the Democratic Movement for Change.
Likud’s platform calls for permanent Israeli sovereignty between the Mediterranean and the Jordan Rivers reform of the electoral system; free enterprise; and a simplified tax system that would abolish all taxes except income tax and the value-added tax (VAT). Likud wants the establishment of a social welfare office, a state pension program, a national health insurance plan and free education starting at the kindergarten level.
It also wants an extension of classes to the afternoon, more Judaic studies in the curriculum and the institution of Arabic as a compulsory foreign language.
SUPPORT FROM BROAD SPECTRUM
Likud, founded as a non-Labor opposition party, draws support from a broad spectrum of the electorate. Well established upper middle class industrialists and citrus growers are attracted to its Liberal Party component. Activists and Ben Gurion hard-liners, especially in veteran moshavim (small-holders settlements) support the State List. Herut backers consist mainly of former members of Irgun, the pre-State underground fighting group, but Herut also draws support from the disaffected poor, mainly in the Sephardic community.
Likud is right of center in domestic matters and intensely nationalistic in foreign policy and its approach to peace with the Arabs. Its list is headed by Menachem Beigin, the veteran Herut leader; Simha Ehrlich (Liberal Party); Yigael Hurwitz (State List) and Ezer Weizman (Herut).
DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT FOR CHANGE
This movement, alternately known by the acronyms DESH DMC or DASH, was founded late last year by Prof. Yigal Yadin, former Army Chief of Staff and an internationally prominent archaeologist. Originally known as the Democratic Movement, it merged with the Shinui (Change) group headed by lawyer and journalist Amnon Rubinstein and was later joined by Tamir’s Free Center.
DESH was motivated by the dissatisfaction and disillusionment with the old political parties that swept a significant portion of Israel’s population after the Yom Kippur War. Its platform’s top priority is security. But it is prepared for extensive territorial compromises, including withdrawals from the West Bank in exchange for a genuine final peace agreement with the Arabs. However, DESH regards the Jordan River and areas west of it as Israel’s security border and objects to a Palestinian state on the West Bank.
DOMESTIC POLICY PLANKS
On the domestic front, DESH wants to reform the electoral system. It would elect future Knessets on the basis of both proportional representation and regional representation. Public funding of political parties would be conditional on internal democratic practices within the parties. DESH was the only political faction to select its Knesset list on the basis of a primary election.
DESH also insists that the Premier have the sole authority to select his ministerial team and divide the various portfolios among them within a coalition government. It says it will not join a coalition or form one unless that port of its platform is implemented within a year.
DESH says it will seek to resume Israel’s economic growth while fighting inflation, increasing labor productivity and abolishing economic activity by political parties. It demands strict enforcement of economic laws to end economic offenses.
In the area of social policy, DESH calls for the establishment of a social welfare office headed by a senior Cabinet minister and adoption of a five-year social plan within the first three months after a new government is formed. It demands freedom of religion for all citizens and the separation of religion from the political system. In the Knesset, DESH representatives would be free to vote their conscience on all religious issues.
DESH attaches great importance to future relations with the Jewish people abroad. It calls for intensification of the involvement of overseas Jewish leaders in Zionist activities initiated in Israel. It wants to streamline the operations of the Jewish Agency and abolish political criteria in the selection of Zionist emissaries to be sent abroad. It also wants a revision of immigrant rights.
RANGE OF SUPPORT
DESH is yet to be tested in an election. But the support it has gained in a few months indicates to some political observers that it will emerge from the May 17 elections as one of Israel’s leading political parties. Its chief supporters come from the intelligentsia and the upper middle class. Several leading industrialists, formerly associated with the Labor Party, have joined its ranks. It also has two Druze candidates on its list. But DESH’s attempts to broaden its base among the development towns and the urban poor suffered a setback when few representatives of those elements were elected to its Knesset list.
DESH is composed mainly of academicians, ex-Army officers, Free Center activists previously with Likud and Histadrut industrialists, headed by former Laborite Meir Amit. The Oriental community is represented by several former senior government officials such as Shmuel Toledano, the former advisor to the Prime Minister on Arab affairs. Its list is headed by Yadin, Rubinstein, Amit, Tamir, Meir Zorea, Zeev Wertheimer and Toledano.
Gen. (Res.) Aharon Yariv who served briefly as Minister of Information in the Rabin Cabinet, announced yesterday that he is quitting the Labor Party to join DESH. Yariv has notified Labor Party Secretary General Meir Zarmi of his resignation. He presently heads the Strategic Research Institute in Tel Aviv. Yariv negotiated the first cease-fire agreements with the Egyptians after the Yom Kippur War.
Tomorrow: Part Two
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