Ahi ( he, אח"י, lit., ''My Brother'', an acronym for ''Eretz Hevra Yahadut'' (), lit., ''Land, Society, Judaism'') is a right-wing

religious Zionist Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, the ...

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 ...

. Founded in 2005, it was part of the National Union alliance between 2006 and 2008. For the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...

, it ran a joint list with

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 Sharon ...

History

The party was established on 21 March 2005, when

Effi Eitam Efraim "Effi" (Fine) Eitam ( he, אפרים "אפי" איתם, born 25 July 1952) is an Israeli brigadier general, former commander of the 91st Division, and a politician. A former leader of the National Religious Party, he later led a breakaway ...

and

Yitzhak Levi Yitzhak Levy ( he, יצחק לוי, born 6 July 1947) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the National Religious Party (NRP) and the Ahi faction of the National Union between 1988 and 2009. Betwe ...

split from the

National Religious Party The National Religious Party ( he, מִפְלָגָה דָּתִית לְאֻומִּית, ''Miflaga Datit Leumit'', commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acronym Mafdal, ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist moveme ...

during the 16th Knesset. The split resulted from opposition to

Zevulun Orlev Zevulun Orlev ( he, זבולון אורלב, born 9 November 1945) is an Israeli politician and a former Knesset member, Minister of Welfare & Social Services and leader of the National Religious Party. Orlev is a decorated war hero who receive ...

's faction in the party, after he had refused to resign from the government following its approval of the disengagement plan. The split occurred when Eitam was suspended as chairman of the party after it failed to approve his suggestion to unite with National Union in order to form a large right-wing–nationalist Religious Zionist party. Eitam and Levi originally named their party the ''Religious Zionism'' (Hebrew: הציונות הדתית, ''HaTzionut HaDatit''), but due to objections from the NRP that its name was too broad, a discussion at the party registrar resulted in the party being renamed the ''Connection Faction'' (Hebrew: סיעת התחברות, ''Siat Hitkhabrut''). The party's final name listed in the party registry was the Renewed National Religious Zionist Party (Hebrew: מפלגת ציונות דתית לאומית מתחדשת, ''Miflaget Tzionut Datit Leumit Mithadeshet''). On 1 August 2005, the party joined the National Union alongside Tkuma and

Moledet Moledet ( he, מולדת, ''Homeland'') was a minor right-wing political party in Israel. History Moledet was established by Rehavam Ze'evi in 1988. It won two seats in the Knesset elections later that year, taken by Ze'evi and Yair Sprinzak. ...

to participate in the 2006 election, and were joined at the last minute by the National Religious Party. The list won nine seats, of which the Renewed National Religious Zionist Party took two. On 11 November 2007, the party was renamed Ahi. On 23 December 2008, it left the National Union. For the 2009 elections, the party ran a joint list with Likud, with Shalom Lerner taking the 39th place and Edmund Hasin taking the 45th. With Likud winning only 27 seats, neither Ahi candidate entered the Knesset. The party's registration was maintained until 2019, when it was revived by

Eli Ben-Dahan Eliyahu Michael "Eli" Ben-Dahan ( he, אלי בן דהן, born 11 February 1954) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician. He most recently served as a member of the Knesset for Ahi and Deputy Minister of Defense. In that position, he was re ...

, after he left

the Jewish Home The Jewish Home ( he, הַבַּיִת הַיְהוּדִי, HaBayit HaYehudi) is an Orthodox Jewish and religious Zionist political party in Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the ...

, the successor to the National Religious Party. As part of an agreement with

, Ben-Dahan contested the April 2019 elections on the Likud list, but split from the party in June to sit as an Ahi MK.Mergers and Splits Among Parliamentary Groups
Knesset

Ideology

In its original guise, the party subscribed to

Greater Israel Greater Israel ( he, ארץ ישראל השלמה; ''Eretz Yisrael Hashlema'') is an expression, with several different biblical and political meanings over time. It is often used, in an irredentist fashion, to refer to the historic or desired bo ...

, and supported the

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...

drive in Gaza and the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. It vehemently opposed disengagement from

, but opposed violence and

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...

against the

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

, and called to respect the

rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...

. The party platform also emphasized the fight against

government corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, inf ...

, and promoted

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

. The movement was supported by

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Shlomo Aviner Shlomo Chaim Hacohen Aviner (, born 1943/5703 as ''Claude Langenauer'') is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi. He is the rosh yeshiva (dean) of Ateret Yerushalayim (formerly Ateret Cohanim) and the rabbi of Beit El, an Israeli settlement. He is consider ...

, who was seen as its spiritual leader, whilst

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winner

Robert Aumann Robert John Aumann (Hebrew name: , Yisrael Aumann; born June 8, 1930) is an Israeli-American mathematician, and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. He is a professor at the Center for the Study of Rationality in the Hebrew ...

was the party's scientific advisor.

References

External links

Party history
Knesset website {{Religious Zionism 2005 establishments in Israel Conservative parties in Israel Right-wing parties Right-wing politics in Israel Orthodox Jewish political parties Political parties established in 2005 Political parties in Israel Religious Zionism Religious Zionist political parties in Israel Social conservative parties