The Free Centre ( he, המרכז החופשי, ''HaMerkaz HaHofshi'') 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 ideological or p ...
in
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 ...
. It is one of the forerunners of the modern-day
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 Sha ...
.
History
The party was created on 29 March 1967 during the
sixth Knesset when
Shmuel Tamir led a breakaway of three
Herut
Herut ( he, חֵרוּת, ''Freedom'') was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism.
History
Herut was founded by Menachem Begin ...
members (the other two being
Eliezer Shostak
Eliezer Shostak (, born 16 December 1911, died 20 August 2001) was an Israeli politician who served as Minister of Health from 1977 until 1984 and as a member of the Knesset from 1951 until 1988.
Biography
Eliezer Shostak as born in Volodymyret ...
and
Avraham Tiar) after a leadership dispute with
Menachem Begin. Before the next election they were joined by
Shlomo Cohen-Tzidon who had also left Gahal and failed in an attempt to create a one-man parliamentary group named the ''Popular Faction''.
In the
1969 elections the Free Centre only just passed 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%, claiming 1.2% of the vote and 2 seats, which were taken by Tamir and Shostak.
Before the
1973 elections it joined the
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 Sha ...
alliance formed by
Herut
Herut ( he, חֵרוּת, ''Freedom'') was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism.
History
Herut was founded by Menachem Begin ...
, the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
(which had formerly been allied as
Gahal
Gahal ( he, גח"ל, an acronym for ''Gush Herut–Liberalim'' (Hebrew: ), ''lit.'' ''Freedom–Liberals Bloc'') was the main right-leaning political alliance in Israel, ranging from the centre-right to right-wing, from its founding in 1965 until ...
), the
National List and the
Movement for Greater Israel
The Movement for Greater Israel ( he, התנועה למען ארץ ישראל השלמה, ''HaTenu'a Lema'an Eretz Yisrael HaSheleima'', officially called themselves in English ''Land of Israel Movement'') was a political organisation in Israel du ...
. The new alliance won 39 seats, with four taken by the Free Centre; Tamir and Shostak were joined by
Ehud Olmert and
Akiva Nof.
In 1974, internal conflict led to Shostak and
Ehud Olmert leaving the Free Centre to establish the
Independent Centre
The Independent Centre ( he, המרכז העצמאי, ''HaMerkaz HaAtzma'i'') was a political faction in Israel between 1975 and 1976.
History
The faction was established by Eliezer Shostak and Ehud Olmert after they broke away from the Free Ce ...
, which later merged into the
La'am
La'am ( he, לע"ם, lit. ''For the Nation''), acronym of Likud Avoda Mamlakhtit was a political faction in Israel that formed part of Likud between 1976 and 1984.
History
Between its formation in 1973 and formal merger in 1988, Likud consiste ...
faction. Another dispute led to Tamir and Nof leaving Likud and re-establishing the party as an independent faction on 26 October 1976 during the
eighth Knesset. Both resigned from the Knesset on 25 January 1977, and joined the
Democratic Movement for Change. They were both elected to the
ninth Knesset
Legislative elections were held in Israel on 17 May 1977 to elect the ninth Knesset. For the first time in Israeli political history, the right wing, led by Likud, won a plurality of seats, ending almost 30 years of rule by the left-wing Alignme ...
as members of the new party, though Nof later defected back to Likud after a spell in
Ahva.
Knesset members
References
External links
Free CenterKnesset website
{{Authority control
Political parties established in 1967
Defunct political parties in Israel
Zionist political parties in Israel
Political parties disestablished in 1977
Revisionist Zionism