Hapoel HaMizrachi ( he, הַפּוֹעֵל הַמִּזְרָחִי, lit. '' Mizrachi Workers'') 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 ...

and

settlement movement The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity and s ...

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 was one of the predecessors of 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 ...

and

the Jewish Home The Jewish Home ( he, הַבַּיִת הַיְהוּדִי, HaBayit HaYehudi) is an Orthodox Jewish and religious Zionist political party in Israel. It was originally formed by a merger of the National Religious Party, Moledet, and Tkuma in ...

History

Hapoel HaMizrachi was formed in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in 1922 under the Zionist slogan "Torah va'Avodah" (Torah and Labor), as a

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 ...

organisation that supported the founding of religious

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

im and moshavim where work was done according to

Halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

.Zionism and Religion, S. Almog, Jehuda Reinharz, Anita Shapira
/ref> Its name came from the Mizrachi Zionist organisation, and is a Hebrew acronym for ''Religious Centre'' (Hebrew: מרכז רוחני, ''Merkaz Ruhani''). For the elections for the first Knesset the party ran as party of a joint list called the

United Religious Front The United Religious Front (, ''Hazit Datit Meuhedet'') was a political alliance of the four major religious parties in Israel, as well as the Union of Religious Independents, formed to fight in the 1949 elections. History The idea of a united r ...

alongside Mizrachi,

Agudat Yisrael Agudat Yisrael ( he, אֲגוּדָּת יִשְׂרָאֵל, lit., ''Union of Israel'', also transliterated ''Agudath Israel'', or, in Yiddish, ''Agudas Yisroel'') is a Haredi Jewish political party in Israel. It began as a political party re ...

and

Poalei Agudat Yisrael Poalei Agudat Yisrael ( he, פועלי אגודת ישראל, , Agudat Yisrael Workers) was a trade union and Jewish political party in Poland and a minor political party in Israel. It was also known as PAI or PAGI, its Hebrew acronym (Hebrew: o ...

. The group won 16 seats, of which Hapoel HaMizrachi took seven, making it the third largest party 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 ...

after

Mapai Mapai ( he, מַפָּא"י, an acronym for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', lit. "Workers' Party of the Land of Israel") was a democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger in ...

and Mapam. It was invited to join the coalition government by

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...

and Hapoel HaMizrachi MK

Haim-Moshe Shapira Haim-Moshe Shapira ( he, חיים משה שפירא, 26 March 1902 – 16 July 1970) was a key Israeli politician in the early days of the state's existence. A signatory of Israel's declaration of independence, he served continuously as a minist ...

was made

Minister of Internal Affairs Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

and Minister of Immigration in the first government. The United Religious Front played a major part in bringing down the first government due to it disagreement with Mapai over issues pertaining to education in the new immigrant camps and the religious education system, as well as its demands that the Supply and Rationing Ministry be closed and a businessman appointed as Minister for Trade and Industry. Ben-Gurion resigned on 15 October 1950. When the problems had been solved two weeks later, he formed the second government with the same coalition partners and ministers as previously. In the 1951 elections the party ran for the Knesset alone under the title of Torah and Work – Hapoel HaMizrachi. They won eight seats, making them the fourth largest party. Again they joined the governing coalition, and remained a member through all four governments of the second Knesset. Shapira kept his position as Minister of Internal Affairs and also became Minister of Religions. When the third government collapsed, Shapira lost the Ministry of Internal Affairs and became Minister of Welfare. He regained the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the sixth government.

Yosef Burg Shlomo Yosef Burg ( he, שלמה יוסף בורג, 31 January 1909 – 15 October 1999) was a German-born Israeli politician. In 1949, he was elected to the first Knesset, and served in many ministerial positions for the next 40 years. He was on ...

also became a minister, heading the Health Ministry in the third government, and the Postal Services Ministry in the fourth, fifth and sixth. For the 1955 elections the party joined forces with its ideological twin, Mizrachi, to form the National Religious Front. The new party won eleven seats (of which Hapoel HaMizrachi held nine), making it the fourth largest, and were again coalition partners in both governments of the third Knesset. In 1956 the union of the two parties was made permanent, and the name changed to the

Knesset members

References

External links

Party history
Knesset website {{Authority control Defunct political parties in Israel Orthodox Jewish political parties Religious Zionism Religious Zionist organizations Political parties established in 1922 Settlement movements in Israel Religious Zionist political parties in Israel * Religious Kibbutz Movement Trade unions in Israel