Primary Political Parties of Israel

There are many political parties in Israel. Election results are generally such that the parties must negotiate agreements with each other to form coalitions powerful enough (with a majority of the 120 parliament seats) to control the government.

Brief descriptions of Israel's primary political parties are provided below.

Kadima ("Forward" in English)

• Ideology: Kadima sees Israel as a democratic Jewish state with Jerusalem serving as the country's undivided capital. The State of Israel serves as the Jewish national home, thus the need to maintain a Jewish population majority is essential.
• Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Road Map Peace Plan should be followed. The Kadima party calls for the establishment of a disarmed, terror-free Palestinian state alongside Israel and the preservation of Jerusalem and large West Bank settlement blocs under Israeli control.
• Economy: Kadima supports capitalist free-market economics.
• Religion: The party has not yet elaborated.
• Famous Leaders: Ariel Sharon, Tzipi Livni, Michael Nudelman, Haim Ramon, Ehud Olmert, Meir Sheetrit
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Likud ("Consolidation" in English)

• Ideology: Zionist, conservative
• Arab-Israeli Conflict: Likud supports Israeli settlements in the territories.
• Economy: Likud supports capitalist free-market economics.
• Religion: Likud believes in maintaining the status quo. Thus, Likud support legislative and other arrangements designed to insure the authority of the Orthodox Rabbinate in all matters of personal status and religious practice in Israel.
• Famous Leaders: Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ariel Sharon
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Avoda ("Labor" in English)

• Ideology: Zionist, social-liberal
• Arab-Israeli Conflict: Labor support peace negotiations with the Palestinians and dismantling most Israeli settlements.
• Economy: Labor favors a free market economy, gradual privatization and reduced government involvement in the economy. Labor maintains that government must act with social responsibility, recognizing that the provision of education, health and other social services, cannot be guaranteed by the market place.
• Religion: Labor views all religious streams as legitimate, and opposes legislation that denies the rights of non-Orthodox citizens and groups in Israel.
• Famous Leaders: Ehud Barak, David Ben-Gurion, Chaim Herzog, Golda Meir, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin, Moshe Sharett, Abba Eban, Moshe Dayan
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Shinui ("Change" in English)

• Ideology: Zionist, secular, liberal, defender of political purity and lawful behavior
• Arab-Israeli Conflict: Shinui supports the Israeli West Bank fence and Israel's unilateral withdrawal from some territories.
• Economy: Shinui supports a free market, privatization of public assets, and a lowering of taxes, especially taxes on the middle class.
• Religion: As a democratic state, Israel should offer its citizens freedom and equality. Shinui believes all branches of Judaism are legitimate and equal. The party supports religious freedom and strongly opposes religious coercion. It considers army exemption of orthodox youth to be a national scandal.
• Famous leader: Joseph 'Tommy' Lapid
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Shas (Sephardim Religious Party)

• Ideology: Shas represents Israeli's ultra-orthodox Sephardic (Jews of Spanish, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern descent) community.
• Arab-Israeli Conflict: Shas maintains relatively flexible policy toward Palestinians which sometimes enables the party to become a coalition partner with whatever party is most powerful.
• Economy: Shas supports the expansion of religious legislation, supports tax and economic initiatives to benefit the poor and middle classes, operates many community social-welfare projects.
• Religion: Led by a council of Torah sages, Shas supports continued army exemption for religious scholars and amending the Law of Return to reflect Jewish Law.
• Famous Leaders: Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Aryeh Deri, Eli Yishai

Mafdal (National Religious Party)

• Ideology: Mafdal represents Israel's religious Zionist movement and its belief in the importance of a Jewish state in the land of Israel with a religious way of life.
• Arab-Israeli Conflict: Mafdal opposes a Palestinian state, withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza, any Palestinian autonomy in the Land of Israel, the ceding of any territory to a foreign power, and the uprooting of any settlement. The party supports a separation fence that would surround Palestinian population centers.
• Economy: Israeli society and the state of Israel should support the poor and the needy
• Famous leaders: Efraim Eitan
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