The Independent Liberals (, ''Libralim Atzma'im'') were a political party in Israel that existed between 1965 and 1992.

History

The Independent Liberals party was formed during the fifth Knesset in the aftermath of the merger of 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 ...

and

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 ...

. Seven of the 17 Liberal Party MKs led by former Minister of Justice,

Pinchas Rosen Pinchas Rosen (; 1 May 1887 – 3 May 1978) was an Israeli statesman, and the country's first Minister of Justice, serving three times during 1948–51, 1952–56, and 1956–61. He was also leader of the Independent Liberals and three times tur ...

, disagreed with the merger and founded a new party in response. Almost all of the dissenters were former members of the Progressive Party, which had merged with 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 ...

to create the Liberal Party during the fourth Knesset, and also included Rachel Cohen-Kagan, formerly an MK for

Women's International Zionist Organization The Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO; ') is a volunteer organization dedicated to social welfare in all sectors of Israeli society, the advancement of the status of women, and Jewish education in Israel and the Diaspora. Histor ...

. The party agreed to have the Israeli participation in

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberalism, liberal political parties. The political international was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal and progressive democratic parties aim ...

shared equally with the Liberal Party. Its constituency was overwhelmingly of European origin. In their first electoral test, the 1965 legislative election, the Independent Liberals won 5 seats and joined

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 ...

and

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) ...

's coalition governments, with

Moshe Kol Moshe Kol (; 28 May 1911 – 7 July 1989) was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician and one of the signatories of the Israeli declaration of independence. Biography Born Moshe Kolodny in Pinsk in the Russian Empire (today in Belarus),

appointed Minister of Tourism and Minister of Development. During the sixth Knesset they lost one seat when

Yizhar Harari Yizhar Harari (; 16 July 1908 – 1 February 1978) was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician. Biography Yizhar Harari was born in Jaffa, then under Ottoman rule, to Haim and Yehudit Harari. He studied political science and journalism at th ...

left the party to join the

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 ...

. In the 1969 election the party won four seats and were again included in Meir's coalition government. Kol retained his post as Minister of Tourism. The party also won four seats in the 1973 election and were included in both of Meir and

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; , ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, his ass ...

's coalition governments. Kol again retained his post as Minister of Tourism and

Gideon Hausner Gideon Max Hausner (; 26 September 1915 – 15 November 1990) was an Israeli jurist and politician. Between 1960 and 1963, he served as Attorney General and was later elected to the Knesset and served in the cabinet. Hausner is most widely known ...

was made a Minister without Portfolio. However, they lost one seat when Hillel Seidel defected to

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 1977 election saw the party win only one seat, barely crossing the 1%

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...

(they received 1.3% of the vote). The party was also excluded from

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 ...

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

coalition. The 1981 election saw the party fail to cross the electoral threshold and disappear from the Knesset. For the 1984 election the party ran as a faction of the Alignment, with Independent Liberals leader Yitzhak Artzi given 44th place on the Alignment electoral list. On 15 March 1988, near the end of the 11th Knesset, Artzi left the Alignment and joined the

Shinui Shinui () was a Zionist, secular, and anti-clerical free market Liberalism worldwide, liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third-largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a split and collaps ...

parliamentary group. In the 1988 election, the Independent Liberals ran together with Shinui and the Liberal Center (a group of former Likud Liberals); the three groups indicated they would cooperate rather than formally merge, pending the 1988 campaign, at which a combined list under the Shinui–Center Movement banner was presented. However, the list won only two seats and none were for Independent Liberal members. The Independent Liberal party merged with the

Israeli Labor Party The Israeli Labor Party (), commonly known in Israel as HaAvoda (), was a Social democracy, social democratic political party in Israel. The party was established in 1968 by a merger of Mapai, Ahdut HaAvoda and Rafi (political party), Rafi. Unt ...

in 1992.

Leaders

Election results

References

External links

Independent Liberals
Knesset website {{Israeli political parties Liberal parties in Israel Zionist political parties in Israel General Zionism Defunct political parties in Israel Social liberal parties Political parties established in 1965 1965 establishments in Israel Political parties disestablished in the 1980s 1980s disestablishments in Israel