Gahal
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Gahal (, an acronym for ''Gush Herut–Liberalim'' (Hebrew: ), ''lit.'' ''Freedom–Liberals Bloc'') was the main
right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...
-leaning
political alliance A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...
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 ...
, ranging from the
centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...
to right-wing, from its founding in 1965 until the establishment of
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 ...
in 1973. It was led by
Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Isra ...
.


History

Gahal was formed by an alliance of
Herut Herut () was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. Some of their policies were compared to those of the Nazi party. Early y ...
and the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
towards the end of the fifth Knesset in preparation for the 1965 elections. The alliance brought together the only two right-wing parties in the
Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...
, each with 17 seats at the time. The Liberal Party had only been formed in 1961, by a merger of the
General Zionists The General Zionists () were a centrist Zionist movement and a political party in Israel. The General Zionists supported the leadership of Chaim Weizmann and their views were largely colored by central European culture. The party was considered ...
and the Progressive Party. The Gahal platform largely incorporated Herut's approach to security and foreign affairs and the Liberal Party's approach to economics and finance. Though Gahal was led by Begin, Herut and the Liberals initially had nearly equal strength in the alliance. However, several former Liberal Party members were unhappy with the alliance, identifying Herut and its leader, Menachem Begin, as too right-wing. As a result, seven MKs broke away from the Liberal Party to form the Independent Liberals, which later merged into the
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
Alignment Alignment may refer to: Archaeology * Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks * Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones Biology * Struc ...
. Nevertheless, the new party went into the elections with 27 seats, just seven less than
Mapai Mapai (, an abbreviation for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', ) was a Labor Zionist and democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in January ...
, the party that had dominated Israeli politics since independence, although Mapai also had been reduced in size due to a breakaway of eight MKs led by
David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...
to found Rafi. Led by Begin, in its first electoral test Gahal won 26 seats. However, it was outperformed by the Alignment (a new left-wing alliance of Mapai and
Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda () was the name used by a series of List of political parties in Israel, political parties in Israel. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the period of Mandatory Pales ...
) which won 46 seats. Gahal was reduced in strength when three of its MKs broke away to form the Free Centre, and a fourth later left. During the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
, Alignment leader and
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Levi Eshkol Levi Eshkol ( ;‎ 25 October 1895 – 26 February 1969), born Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik (), was the prime minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. A founder of the Israeli Labor Party, he served in numerous seni ...
invited Gahal to join a
national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other na ...
. The party remained in the government after the war, and kept its place when
Golda Meir Golda Meir (; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was the prime minister of Israel, serving from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government. Born into a Jewish family in Kyiv, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) ...
became Prime Minister following Eshkol's death in 1969. In the October 1969 elections Gahal maintained its 26-seat strength, but was comprehensively beaten by the Alignment, which won 56, in the strongest-ever election performance in Israeli political history. Nevertheless, Gahal remained within the national unity government. The announcement of the Rogers Plan on 9 December had alarmed Menachem Begin sufficiently to cause the Herut faction to stop haggling with the Labor Party and accept the six cabinet seats offered in the new government. At the UN, a similar American proposal to
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
on 18 December, explicitly calling for Israeli withdrawal from the
West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, removed any remaining differences between Gahal and the Prime Minister, since they both saw this as a challenge requiring a blunt and energetic response. However, Gahal pulled out of the coalition in August 1970 after the government announced its support for the Rogers Plan. Although the government later retracted its support for the plan, Gahal did not rejoin the coalition. Before the 1973 elections, Gahal and several smaller right-wing parties (including its former breakaway the Free Centre, the National List (a small party founded by David Ben-Gurion after he had left Rafi) and the non-parliamentary Movement for Greater Israel) to form a new alliance named
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 ...
, the Hebrew word for 'consolidation'. Although Likud failed to overcome the Alignment in the 1973 elections, it comfortably won the next elections in 1977, ousting the left from power for the first time in Israel's history.


Composition


Electoral results


See also

* Politics of Israel


References


External links


Gahal
Knesset website {{Authority control Political parties established in 1965 Defunct political party alliances in Israel Zionist political parties in Israel Political parties disestablished in 1973 Liberal parties in Israel Defunct liberal political parties Words and phrases in Modern Hebrew