Ratz (), officially the Movement for Civil Rights and Peace (Hebrew: , ''HaTnua'a LeZkhuyot HaEzrah VeLaShalom'') was a

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 ...

political party in Israel that focused on

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

. It was active from 1973 until its formal merger into

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 ...

in 1997. However, it remains a registered political party.

History

The Movement for Civil Rights and Peace was formed in 1973 by

Shulamit Aloni Shulamit Aloni (; 27 December 1927 – 24 January 2014) was an Israeli politician. She founded the Ratz (political party), Ratz party, was leader of the Meretz party, Leader of the Opposition (Israel), Leader of the Opposition from 1988 to 1990, ...

, a former MK for 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 ...

, 48 hours after she had left the party. As a member of the Israeli peace camp it opposed the occupation of 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 ...

and

Gaza strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

and called for a peace settlement with the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...

from its birth. The party advocated

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

ism, the separation of

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

and state, and

, most notably women's rights, a topic that was very close to Aloni. It was also a notable fighter against corruption and for a written

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, and Aloni was the initiator of the Knesset sub-committee for

basic law A basic law is either a codified constitution, or in countries with uncodified constitutions, a law designed to have the effect of a constitution. The term ''basic law'' is used in some places as an alternative to "constitution" and may be inte ...

s (Israel's equivalent of a constitution). For a while it also supported electoral reform. In its first test, the 1973 elections, the party received 2% of the vote and won three seats 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 ...

, which were taken by Aloni, new American immigrant Marcia Freedman, and Boaz Moav. The party soon gained the popular name Ratz, as it used the letters

Resh Resh is the twentieth Letter (alphabet), letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician ''rēš'' 𐤓, Hebrew alphabet, Hebrew ''rēš'' , Aramaic alphabet, Aramaic ''rēš'' 𐡓‎, Syriac alphabet, Syriac ''rēš'' � ...

Tzadik Tzadik ( ''ṣaddīq'' , "righteous ne; also ''zadik'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadīqīm'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The root of the word ...

on the election ballot paper. Following

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 resignation, the party joined

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 government and Aloni served as a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

. This was one of the few periods in Israel's political history when no religious parties were part of the coalition. The arrangement lasted for a few months only and when 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 ...

joined the coalition, Ratz left it. In 1975 the party merged with Aryeh Eliav, an independent MK who had broken away from the Alignment, to form a new party,

Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement (, ''Ya'ad – Tenoa'a LaZkhuyot HaEzrah''), commonly known as just Ya'ad, was a short-lived political party in Israel. It is not related to the other party by the name of Ya'ad, which existed during the ninth Kne ...

. However, it broke up the following year, and Aloni and Moaz reformed Ratz. Freedman did not return, instead forming the Social-Democratic Faction (later renamed the Independent Socialist Faction) with Eliav, and then breaking away again to form the Women's Party prior to the 1977 elections. Also prior to the 1977 elections, the Independent Socialist Faction merged with several other small left-wing parties ( Moked, Meri and the

Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California ...

) to form the Left Camp of Israel. Ratz performed poorly in the 1977 elections, winning only one seat, which Aloni took. The 1981 elections were a repeat, with only Aloni representing the party in the Knesset. During the Knesset session she merged the party into the Alignment, but then broke away again before the term ended. Before the 1984 elections the Left Camp of Israel merged into Ratz in a one-to-three ratio, bringing with them Ran Cohen among others. The elections were an improvement on the previous two, and saw the party win three seats. During the Knesset session, the party gained another two seats when

Yossi Sarid Yossi Sarid (‎; 24 October 1940 – 4 December 2015) was an Israeli politician and news commentator. He served as a member of the Knesset for the Alignment, Ratz and Meretz between 1974 and 2006. A former Minister of Education and Minist ...

and Mordechai Virshubski joined, defecting from the Alignment and

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 ...

respectively. The party retained its five-seat strength in the 1988 elections. Prior to the 1992 elections the party formed an alliance with

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 ...

and

named

, whilst keeping their independent status within the union. The new party was a success, winning 12 seats, two more than the parties had held in the previous Knesset. Prior to the 1996 elections, Aloni finally lost the leadership of the party, defeated by Sarid in internal elections. She retired from politics immediately. In 1997 the merger was made official (though several Shinui members led by Avraham Poraz broke away to reform as an independent party, whilst

David Zucker David Samuel Zucker (born October 16, 1947) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Associated mostly with parody comedies, Zucker is recognized for collaborating with Jim Abrahams and his brother Jerry as part of Zucker, Ab ...

became an independent MK), and Ratz effectively ceased to exist. However, it remained a registered political party and submitted financial reports to the Party Registrar in 2010 and 2013.

Election results

Knesset members

References

External links

Party history
Knesset website {{Israeli political parties Political parties established in 1973 Political parties disestablished in 1997 Defunct political parties in Israel Zionist political parties in Israel Liberal socialism Anti-clerical parties Labor Zionism Socialist parties in Israel Words and phrases in Modern Hebrew Meretz