Revisionist Zionism evolved into the Likud Party in Israel …
Posted By admin on September 7, 2015
Yale Accords Research
Israel
In contemporary Israel political representation can be divided into three major groups: Likud, Labor, and the religious parties (namely the National Religious Party, Shas and United Torah Judiasm). Together, these three blocs comprise 89 seats of the Knesset's (the Israeli Parliament) 120 seats. The respective breakdown is 32 seats for the Likud, 34 for Labor, and 23 for the religious parties. The current ruling coalition, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is a conglomerate of the Likud, the three religious parties, and a number of less important parties such as a new immigrant's party (Yisrael Ba'aliyah) to name one. For our purposes we will stick to discussing only the Likud, Labor and the religious parties. It is now necessary to briefly review the history and positions of the three respective political blocs vis a vis the peace process and relations between Israel and her Arab neighbors in general.
The Likud The Likud is modern Israel's largest right of center political party. Likud has its ideological roots in the Revisionist Zionist movement founded by Zeev Jabotinsky in the early twentieth century before Israel became an independent state. The Revisionists advocated a Jewish State on both sides of the Jordan River (meaning today what comprises, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan). Decidedly militaristic in their outlook, the Revisionists advocated mass and rapid Jewish immigration to the new state to facilitate the creation of a Jewish majority throughout the land and the establishment of a strong Jewish army to defend the new state. Once Israel was born in 1948 Revisionist ideology was carried on by Menachem Begin's Herut Party. The Herut (which later along with some smaller parties merged to become the modern day Likud) became Israel's perennial opposition party until it finally won an election in 1977. Since 1977 it has been in power (either through coalitions with smaller parties or in a power-sharing arrangement with Labor) for all but four years. For decades it advocated keeping and settling many of the territories (the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights) Israel captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Not only did the Likud view these territories as essential to Israel's security; they also firmly believed much of it (the West Bank and Gaza) was part of "Biblical Israel" and the rightful property of the Jews. Ironically, it was a Likud government that was the first to trade land for peace in the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty in which Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in exchange for peace. Since the election of a Likud government in the aftermath of the Oslo Accords in 1996, the party under Netanyahu's leadership has slowly reconciled itself to giving land to the Palestinians in exchange for security guarantees. The 1997 Hebron Accord and 1998 Wye Agreement were both milestones for the Likud. In both agreements a Likud-led government agreed for the first time to turn over land in the West Bank (the heart of Biblical Israel) to the Palestinian Authority, the city of Hebron in the former and 13% of the West Bank as part of an interim arrangement in the latter. Today's Likud accepts the Oslo Accords and the need to trade land for peace but does so suspiciously and reluctantly. It advocates the continued expansion of Jewish settlements on these lands which many feel are obstacles to the continuation of the peace process and contradict its very spirit. Today's Likud also advocates maintaining a united Jerusalem and the Golan Heights under full Israeli sovereignty. Although still officially opposed to creation of an independent Palestinian State, many believe today's Likud Party would accept the creation of an independent Palestinian State as long as it was demilitarized and under significant military restrictions.
The Labor Party The Labor Party is Israel's major left of center political party. Labor has its roots in Zionist-Socialist movements that sprung up in Europe and in Palestine before Israel's creation in 1948. Today's Labor Party is the direct descendent of David Ben-Gurion's Mapai Party which led the battle for an independent Jewish State and took the reins of government when Israel was first founded. Labor-led coalitions ruled Israel uninterrupted between 1948 and 1977. Since 1977, Labor has been in and out of the governing coalition. The Labor Party traditionally advocates a more compromising position on the disputed territories to facilitate peace agreements between Israel and her Arab neighbors than both the Likud and the religious parties. Labor generally does not subscribe to the belief that Israel must keep all of what comprised "Biblical Israel" and believes in exchanging land populated with Palestinians that it deems not vital to Israel's security. Beyond territorial exchange, Labor favors freezing the expansion of Jewish settlements on the West Bank and Gaza Strip and advocates greater economic and cultural ties between Israel and her neighbors. The 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO along with the 1994 Israeli-Jordanian Peace Treaty were all initiated under a Labor-led coalition. Labor also accepts in principle the need to achieve peace with Syria through territorial compromise on the Golan Heights. Labor, like the other two major political blocs, believes that in any final-status agreement with the Palestinians, Jerusalem must remain united under full Israeli sovereignty. Labor unlike, the other two political blocs, also now openly accepts the need for a demilitarized Palestinian State as long as Israel maintains defensible borders.
The Religious Parties Israel's three major religious parties differ dramatically on a whole host of issues including the peace process. Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) generally maintain fairly neutral positions on the peace process because their main focus is on increasing religious influence and power within the State of Israel. Their constituents, however, generally lean rightward on the peace process and are opposed to territorial compromise. Because of this, Shas and the UTJ, generally feel more comfortable in right-wing coalitions led by the Likud. The National Religious Party (the NRP), however, takes a forceful and loud position on the peace process. Firmly right-wing, the NRP rejects any territorial compromise with the Arabs and refuses to recognize the Oslo Accords as legitimate. As stronger believers in Israel's right to "Biblical Israel" (the West Bank and Gaza), the NRP advocates the massive expansion of Jewish settlements in the territories and East Jerusalem. The NRP also advocates maintaining the Golan Heights under full Israeli sovereignty. Of all three political blocs discussed, the religious parties (taken as a whole) are by the far the most right-wing and least willing to compromise to attain peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors.
Read more from the original source:
Revisionist Zionism evolved into the Likud Party in Israel ...
Comments