Israel’s main political parties?

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There are dozens of political parties in Israel. many of which have representatives Israel has five main political parties: Kadima, Labour, Likud, Shas and Yisrael Beytenu. These five and smaller political parties make up Israel’s parliamentary system of government. The Knesset, a 120-member unicameral parliament, is elected every four years through a system of proportional representation. The head of the political party that wins the most seats is responsible for forming the government and thus becomes the prime minister. Since Israel’s formation in 1948, no single political party has won a majority of the 61 seats in the Knesset. As a result, governments are formed through coalitions.

Kadima, a right-wing political party, was created in 2005 by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Kadima’s main goal is to create a strong Israeli and Palestinian state. It focuses on continuing Sharon’s unilateral disengagement plan to move Israeli settlements out of Gaza and strengthen security in Palestinian areas. This political party also hopes to reform the Knesset with more elections to different levels of government.

The Labor Party, formed in the 1930s, is probably the oldest of Israel’s five major political parties. Originally a left-wing socialist political party, it can now be classified as a centre-left party. The Labor Party advocates less government and stable monetary and fiscal policy. Regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict, this political party strongly supports territorial concessions and opposes military aggression against the Palestinians. It is this position that makes the political party sometimes unattractive to Israelis, especially in times of frequent terrorist attacks.

The Likud party, formed in 1973, advocates a free market for Israel’s economy and has established free trade agreements with the European Union (EU) and the United States (US). It is based largely on the idea of ​​a “Greater Israel” that emphasizes the nation’s right to the West Bank, the region within Israel that lies west of the Jordan River. However, it was the Likud party that was the first political party to grant territory to Egypt. Likud’s lack of interest in the Disengagement Plan was what led Sharon to break off and form the Kadima party. Likud currently supports Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas and while it supports a Palestinian state, it supports a smaller Palestinian state than most Arabs support.

In 1984, the Shas political party was formed by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who is still its spiritual leader today. It was formed as a reaction to the government’s refusal to extend Rabbi Yosef’s term as Chief Rabbi of Israel. After the 2006 elections, its political leader, Eli Yishal, formed a coalition with Kadima as Shas had won a total of 12 Knesset seats. Its practice of forming a coalition has a large effect on its policies towards Arab-Israeli relations, often being the same as the ruling political party it has aligned itself with. Furthermore, he supports social payments and the limitation of state authority.

Yisrael Beiteinu has two basic policies. One is to advocate a hardline approach towards Palestine and the rest of the world. Because his foreign policies are largely based on realism, Yisrael Beiteinu believes other nations would prefer that Israel not gain control of the Gaza Strip. The second policy concerns the creation of more favorable socio-economic conditions for new immigrants. In the 2006 election, Yisrael Beiteinu won 11 votes in the Knesset and joined the coalition government led by Kadima.

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