The Center Party (, translit. ''Mifleget HaMerkaz''), originally known as Israel in the Center, was a short-lived political party in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Formed in 1999 by former

Defense Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Yitzhak Mordechai Yitzhak "Itzik" Mordechai (; born 22 November 1944) is an Israeli former general and politician. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1996 and 2001, and as Minister of Defense and Minister of Transport. He retired from political life ...

, the aim was to create a group of moderates to challenge

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

on the right and opposition leader

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( ; born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party between 1997 and 20 ...

's Labor Party on the left.

Platform

The Center party platform promoted new thinking about national unity, leadership credibility and strategic planning and hoped to establish new institutional rules to guide public life, including a written constitution.

History

The party was established on 23 February 1999, towards the end of the 14th Knesset's term, by Mordechai, David Magen and Dan Meridor from

Likud Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...

, Hagai Meirom and Nissim Zvili of Labor, and Eliezer Sandberg of

Tzomet Tzomet (, lit., ''Crossroads'') is a small, right-wing political party in Israel. Raful period (1983-1999) The party was founded by General Rafael Eitan in 1983, after his retirement from the position of chief-of-staff in 1982. He headed it throu ...

. However, the most significant ally for Mordechai was General Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, the just-retired army Chief-of-Staff who had been a bitter rival for that post in 1994. The party borrowed many of its themes from The Third Way, a group that split with the Labor Party in 1994 over the latter's willingness to negotiate the return of the

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to Syria for a peace treaty. However, by 1999 The Third Way was a partner of the Likud government and had lost public support due to its lack of influence on Netanyahu. Mordechai wanted further progress in the

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, and clashed with the prime minister and other members of his cabinet. Bringing Dan Meridor on board was important. One of the Likud's younger members, Meridor had a solid record as minister of justice from 1988 until 1992, was the son of

Irgun The Irgun (), officially the National Military Organization in the Land of Israel, often abbreviated as Etzel or IZL (), was a Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandatory Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of th ...

resistance member and later Knesset member

Eliyahu Meridor Eliyahu Meridor (; 20 July 1914 – 16 October 1966) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Herut and Gahal from 1959 until his death in 1966. Biography Born Elijhu Wierzbolowski on 20 July 1914 in Saint Petersburg i ...

, and was a civilian counterbalance to Mordechai.

1999 elections

Prior to the 1999 elections the party changed its name to the ''Center Party''. Mordechai was also a candidate in the direct election for prime minister but dropped out when it became clear that Ehud Barak was rising in the polls. In the Knesset elections, the Center Party won roughly 5% of the vote, enough for 6 seats.

Joining the government

The party joined Ehud Barak's

One Israel One Israel (, ''Yisrael Ahat'') was an alliance of the Labor Party, Meimad and Gesher created to run for the 1999 Knesset elections. Background One Israel was formed by Labor leader Ehud Barak in the run-up to the 1999 elections with the ...

coalition alongside

Shas Shas () is a Haredi Judaism, Haredi religious List of political parties in Israel, political party in Israel. Founded in 1984 by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Israeli Sephardic Jews, Sephardi chief rabbi, who remained its spiritual leader until ...

Meretz Meretz (, ; ) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed in 1992 by the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was at its peak between 1992 and 1996 when it had 12 seats. It had no seats in the Knesset following its failure ...

, the

National Religious Party The National Religious Party (, ''Miflaga Datit Leumit''), commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew abbreviation Mafdal (), was an Israeli political party representing the interests of the Israeli settlers and religious Zionist movement. Formed ...

and

Yisrael BaAliyah Yisrael BaAliyah (, ) was a political party in Israel between its formation in 1996 and its merger into Likud in 2003. It was formed to represent the interests of Russian immigrants by former refuseniks Natan Sharansky and Yuli-Yoel Edelstein. ...

. Mordechai became Minister of Transport and

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

, whilst Lipkin-Shahak became Minister of Tourism. Following Shas leaving the coalition in August 2000, former mayor of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, Roni Milo, was made

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

. Mordechai resigned in the wake of a sex scandal on 30 May 2000; Lipkin-Shahak replaced him as Minister of Transport. Milo and former Likud member Yehiel Lasry defected back to Likud, and Rabin-Pelossof, Lipkin, and Uri Savir formed the New Way after Barak lost elections for prime minister to

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon ( ; also known by his diminutive Arik, ; 26 February 192811 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestin ...

in 2001. By the end of the Knesset term only Meridor and Nehama Ronen remained in the faction. The party did not run in the 2003 elections.

Election results

References

External links

Official website

Israel in the Center
Knesset website
Center Party
Knesset website {{Authority control Political parties established in 1999 Zionist political parties in Israel Defunct political parties in Israel Political parties disestablished in 2003 1999 establishments in Israel 2003 disestablishments in Israel Centrist parties in Israel Likud breakaway groups