The Third Way ( he, הדרך השלישית, ''HaDerekh HaShlishit'') was 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 ...

in the 1990s.

Background

The party was formed on 7 March 1996 towards the end of the thirteenth Knesset's term when two MKs,

Avigdor Kahalani Tat Aluf (Brigadier General) Avigdor Kahalani ( he, אביגדור קהלני, born 16 June 1944) is a former Israeli soldier and politician. Early life Avigdor Kahalani was born in Ness Ziona during the Mandate era. His parents, Moshe and Sa ...

and

Emanuel Zisman Emanuel Zisman ( bg, Емануел Зисман; he, עמנואל זיסמן, 11 February 1935 – 11 November 2009) was an Israeli politician and ambassador. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1988 and 1999. Biography Zisman was born ...

, broke away from the Labour Party.Mergers and Splits Among Parliamentary Groups
Knesset website Kahalani and Zisman disagreed with the party's willingness to entertain the idea of withdrawing from the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between d ...

in return for peace with Syria. While the party objected to withdrawal from the Golan Heights and took a hawkish position as to Lebanon, it held more moderate views on the peace process. The party ran in the

1996 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1996. * 1995–1996 Azerbaijani parliamentary election * 1996 Beninese presidential election * 1996 Comorian presidential election * 1996 New Zealand general election * 1996 Nicaraguan general electio ...

and won 96,457 votes. This gave them four seats, with

Yehuda Harel Yehuda Harel (, born 11 November 1934) is a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Third Way between 1996 and 1999. Biography Yehuda Harel was born in Berlin in 1934 and his family made aliyah to Mandatory Palesti ...

and Professor

Alexander Lubotzky Alexander Lubotzky ( he, אלכסנדר לובוצקי; born 28 June 1956) is an Israeli mathematician and former politician who is currently a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science and an adjunct professor at Yale University. He served ...

joining Kahalani and Zisman in the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

. They were invited to join

Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Shar ...

-led government and Kahalani was appointed Minister of Internal Security. On 23 March 1999, Zisman left the party to sit as an independent. The party ran in the

1999 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1999. * 1999 electoral calendar Africa * 1999 Algerian presidential election * 1999 Botswana general election * 1999 Beninese parliamentary election * 1999 Central African Republic presidential elect ...

, but faced with a massive loss of support, won only 26,290 votes (0.7%), well below the

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

of 1.5%. After its failure, the party ceased to function, but remained registered. In 2011 its registration was taken over by

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the s ...

Leaders

Election results

References

External links

Third Way
Knesset website Defunct political parties in Israel Political parties established in 1996 1996 establishments in Israel Political parties disestablished in 2011 2011 disestablishments in Israel Liberal parties in Israel Zionist political parties in Israel {{israel-party-stub