Sephardim and Oriental Communities ( he, סְפָרַדִּים וְעֵדוֹת מִזְרָח, ''Sfaradim VeEdot Mizrah'') 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 ...
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 ...
and is one of the ancestors of 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 Sharon ...
party.
History
The Sephardim and Oriental Communities party represented
Sephardi Jews
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...
and
Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews ( he, יהודי המִזְרָח), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () or ''Mizrachi'' () and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are a grouping of Jewish communities comprising those who remained i ...
who were already living in Israel at the time of
independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
, and was part of
Minhelet HaAm and the
Provisional government
A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...
in 1948–49.
Under the full title of ''The National Unity List of Sephardim and Oriental Communities'', the party gained 3.5% of the vote and four seats in the
elections for the first Knesset in 1949. Represented by
Moshe Ben-Ami,
Eliyahu Eliashar,
Avraham Elmalih
Avraham Elmalih ( he, אברהם אלמליח, 1885''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', 1971 Edition, Volume 6, page 682. – 2 April 1967) was a journalist, Zionist activist and Israeli politician.
Biography
Born in Jerusalem, Elmalih was educated in ...
and
Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit
Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit ( he, בכור-שלום שטרית, 1895 – 28 January 1967) was an Israeli politician, minister and the only signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence to have been born in the country. He served as Minister o ...
, they joined
the government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
as a coalition partner of
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 name ...
's
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 ...
party, with Sheetrit appointed
Minister of Police.
For the
1951 election, the party changed its name to ''The list of Sephardim and Oriental Communities, Old Timers and Immigrants''. However, they lost around half their share of the vote (1.8%) and half their seats, slumping to just two representatives. Only Eliashar retained his seat, with
Binyamin Sasson taking the second. This time they did not join the government.
On 10 September 1951 the party merged into the
General Zionists
The General Zionists ( he, הַצִיּוֹנִים הַכְּלָלִיים, translit. ''HaTzionim HaKlaliym'') were a centrist Zionist movement and a political party in Israel. The General Zionists supported the leadership of Chaim Weizmann an ...
, then the second-largest party in the Knesset and briefly a member of the governing coalition that made up the fourth and fifth governments (though they were expelled from the sixth after abstaining from a
motion of no-confidence
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
).
Some party members were not happy about joining the
General Zionists
The General Zionists ( he, הַצִיּוֹנִים הַכְּלָלִיים, translit. ''HaTzionim HaKlaliym'') were a centrist Zionist movement and a political party in Israel. The General Zionists supported the leadership of Chaim Weizmann an ...
and broke away to reform the party. They contested the
1955 elections with Eliashar as leader,
Sephardim and Oriental Communities list (1955)
Israel Democracy Institute but failed to win a seat.
Later on, the General Zionists
The General Zionists ( he, הַצִיּוֹנִים הַכְּלָלִיים, translit. ''HaTzionim HaKlaliym'') were a centrist Zionist movement and a political party in Israel. The General Zionists supported the leadership of Chaim Weizmann an ...
merged with the Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to:
Active parties
* Progressive Party, Brazil
* Progressive Party (Chile)
* Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus
* Dominica Progressive Party
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* Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...
to form 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 was briefly the third-largest party in Israel before merging again with 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 ...
to form 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 ...
, which eventually became 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 ...
.
Election results
References
External links
Party history
Knesset website
{{Israeli political parties
Defunct political parties in Israel
Zionist political parties in Israel
General Zionism
Mizrahi Jewish culture in Israel
Sephardi Jewish culture in Israel