The Left Faction (, ''Siat Smol'') was a short-lived

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

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 ...

History

The Left Faction was formed on 20 February 1952 (during the second Knesset) as a breakaway from

Mapam File:Pre-State_Zionist_Workers'_Parties_chart.png, chart of zionist workers parties, 360px, right rect 167 83 445 250 Hapoel Hatzair rect 450 88 717 265 The non-partisans (pre-state Zionist political movement), Non Partisans rect 721 86 995 243 ...

in the aftermath of the

Prague Trials Prague ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan area is home to approximately 2.3 mi ...

. The

show trials A show trial is a public trial in which the guilt or innocence of the defendant has already been determined. The purpose of holding a show trial is to present both accusation and verdict to the public, serving as an example and a warning to ...

in which mostly

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish leaders of the

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Com ...

were purged, falsely implicated

's envoy in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, Mordechai Oren, as part of a

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

conspiracy. This, and later

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

Secret Speech "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" () was a report by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, made to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on 25 Februa ...

at the 20th Party Congress in the Soviet Union, led to Mapam moving away from some of their more radical left wing positions, and towards social democracy. Unhappy with the move, several Mapam MKs left the party; Moshe Aram, Yisrael Bar-Yehuda,

Yitzhak Ben-Aharon Yitzhak Ben-Aharon (; 17 July 1906 – 19 May 2006) was an Israeli left-wing politician. He was a Knesset member from the first to the fifth Knessets and in the seventh and eighth, and a former Transportation Minister of Israel, Minister of ...

and

Aharon Zisling Aharon Zisling (), also spelled Aharon Cizling, (26 February 1901 – 16 January 1964) was an Israeli politician and minister and a signatory of Declaration of Independence (Israel), Israel's declaration of independence. Biography Born in Mins ...

set up Ahdut HaAvoda-Poale Zion, Hannah Lamdan and David Livschitz created the Faction independent of Ahdut HaAvoda, whilst Rostam Bastuni (the first

Israeli Arab The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Palestinian Citizenship Order 1925, Mandatory Palestine citizens (and their descendants) who continued to inhabit the territory ...

MK representing a Zionist party), Adolf Berman and

Moshe Sneh Moshe Sneh (; 6 January 1909 – 1 March 1972) was a Haganah commander and an Israeli politician. One of the founders of Mapam, he later joined the Israeli Communist Party (Maki). Biography Mosze Klaynboym (later Sneh) attended high scho ...

established the Left Faction. However, the party ceased to exist on 1 November 1954 when Bastuni returned to Mapam and Berman and Sneh joined the communist party, Maki.Mergers and Splits Among Parliamentary Groups
Knesset website

References

External links

Party history
Knesset website {{Israeli political parties Political parties established in 1952 Defunct political parties in Israel Zionist political parties in Israel Political parties disestablished in 1954 Labor Zionism 1952 establishments in Israel