The Israeli Communist Party, commonly known by its Hebrew acronym Maki (), is a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country'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 (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and forms part of the political alliance known as

Hadash Hadash ( he, חד״ש, lit=New), an acronym for ''HaHazit HaDemokratit LeShalom uLeShivion'' ( he, הַחֲזִית הַדֶּמוֹקְרָטִית לְשָׁלוֹם וּלְשִׁוְיוֹן, lit=The Democratic Front for Peace and Equalit ...

. It was originally known as Rakah, an acronym for ''Reshima Komunistit Hadasha'' ("New Communist List"), after breaking away from the original Maki in the 1960s.

History

Dan Hadani collection (990044460250205171)

Rakah was formed on 1 September 1965 due to internal disagreements in Maki. Maki, the original Israeli Communist Party, saw a split between a largely

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in J ...

faction led by

Moshe Sneh Moshe Sneh ( he, מֹשֶׁה סְנֶה ; 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 (la ...

, which was critical of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

's increasingly

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palest ...

stance, and a largely

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

faction, which was increasingly

. As a result, the pro-Arab/pro-Soviet faction (including Emile Habibi,

Tawfik Toubi Tawfik Toubi ( ar, توفيق طوبي, he, תופיק טובי, 11 May 1922 – 12 March 2011) was an Israeli Arab communist politician. He was the last surviving member of the first Knesset. Tawfik Toubi was married to Olga Touma and one ...

and Meir Vilner) left Maki to form a new party, Rakah, which the Soviet Union recognised as the "official" Communist Party. The

Eurocommunist Eurocommunism, also referred to as democratic communism or neocommunism, was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more rele ...

faction, led by Sneh, remained in Maki. It was reported in the Soviet media that the Mikunis–Sneh group defected to the bourgeois-nationalist camp. The 1965 elections saw Rakah party win three seats, comprehensively beating Maki as it slumped to just one. Rakah's opposition to

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...

and the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 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, S ...

meant they were excluded from the

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 ...

s of the sixth Knesset. In the 1969 elections Rakah again won three seats. During the

1973 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1973. Africa * 1973 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1973 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1973 Ethiopian general election * 1973 Gabonese general election * 1973 Republic of the Congo co ...

Rakah saw a rise in support as the party picked up four seats. Before the 1977 elections the party joined with some other small left-wing and Arab parties, including some members of the

Israeli Black Panthers The Black Panthers ( he, הפנתרים השחורים, translit. ''HaPanterim HaShkhorim'') were an Israeli protest movement of second-generation Jewish immigrants from North Africa and Middle Eastern countries. It was one of the first organiz ...

to form

. After the original Maki had disappeared after merging into Ratz in 1981, members of Rakah decided to change the party's name to Maki in 1989.New Communist List (Rakach)
Knesset website The party remains the leading force in Hadash, and owns the ''Al-Ittihad'' newspaper.

Election results

References

External links

* {{Authority control Arab political parties in Israel Political parties in Israel Communist parties in Israel Political parties established in 1965 1965 establishments in Israel International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties