The Socialist Workers League was a group of Israeli

Trotskyists Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...

, founded in 2002 and dissolved in 2004. The SWL was built as a result of a split initiated by Trotskyists who were part of the Israeli Committee for One Democratic Republic of Palestine. The prominent member of the SWL was Yossi Schwartz, former member of the leadership of the Canadian section of the

International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist) The International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist), earlier known as the International Spartacist tendency is a Trotskyist international. Its largest constituent party is the Spartacist League (US). There are smaller sections of the ICL ...

, known as the

international Spartacist tendency The International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist), earlier known as the International Spartacist tendency is a Trotskyist international. Its largest constituent party is the Spartacist League (US). There are smaller sections of the ICL ...

, the Trotskyist League (Canada). The Trotskyists, led by Schwartz, believed that only a program that struggles for a socialist Palestinian republic can unite the Palestinian Arab workers and peasants of the region.

History

With two comrades, Schwartz founded a faction named Militants for the Fourth International. The MFI contained only 5-6 comrades. After a short factional struggle, the MFI decided to build itself as independent organization. The newborn SWL contacted the

Partido Obrero The Workers' Party ( es, Partido Obrero, PO) is an Argentina, Argentine Trotskyist political party. It is the largest national section of the Co-ordinating Committee for the Refoundation of the Fourth International. In the 2009 Argentine legisla ...

, the

Workers' Party (Argentina) The Workers' Party ( es, Partido Obrero, PO) is an Argentine Trotskyist political party. It is the largest national section of the Co-ordinating Committee for the Refoundation of the Fourth International. In the 2009 legislative election, the ...

tendency in Argentina, the leading section of the

Co-ordinating Committee for the Refoundation of the Fourth International The Coordinating Committee for the Refoundation of the Fourth International (CRFI) was a Trotskyist international organisation. Its name in Spanish was ''Coordinadora por la Refundación de la Cuarta Internacional''. It was formed in 2004 at a c ...

. The SWL became the official section of the CCRFI. It published a monthly journal, ''The Militant''. During 2002 and the beginning of 2003, the SWL attempted to launch a movement for one and democratic republic with

Abnaa el-Balad Abnaa el-Balad ( ar, ابناء البلد, ''Sons of the Land'' or ''Sons and Daughters of the Country'' or ''People of the Homeland Movement'') is a secular Arab nationalist movement made up of Palestinians, most of whom are Arab citizens of ...

movement. The failure to build it, led the minority faction to conclude that it must ally with the

Communist Party of Israel The Israeli Communist Party, commonly known by its Hebrew acronym Maki (), is a communist political party in Israel and forms part of the political alliance known as Hadash. It was originally known as Rakah, an acronym for ''Reshima Komunistit Ha ...

and call for voting to its political front,

Hadash Hadash ( he, חד״ש, lit=New), an acronym for ''HaHazit HaDemokratit LeShalom uLeShivion'' ( he, הַחֲזִית הַדֶּמוֹקְרָטִית לְשָׁלוֹם וּלְשִׁוְיוֹן, lit=The Democratic Front for Peace and Equalit ...

. The majority, led by the PO comrades, claimed that the 2003 elections should be

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

ed. As a result of the factional struggle, the SWL (minority) changed its views and accepted the right of the Israeli people for self-determination, along the perspective of socialist federation of the Middle East with full cultural and national rights to all minorities. In June 2003, the SWL (minority) decided to become political supporter of the

International Marxist Tendency The International Marxist Tendency (IMT) is an international Trotskyism, Trotskyist Political international, political tendency founded by Ted Grant and his supporters following their break with the Committee for a Workers' International (1974) ...

led by Alan Woods and the late Trotskyist politician

Ted Grant Edward Grant (born Isaac Blank; 9 July 1913 – 20 July 2006) was a South African Trotskyist who spent most of his adult life in Britain. He was a founding member of the group Militant and later Socialist Appeal. Early life Grant's father had s ...

. It changed its name to In Defense of Marxism Circle (IDMC), starting entry work within the

and later on within the

Labor Party (Israel) The Israeli Labor Party ( he, מִפְלֶגֶת הָעֲבוֹדָה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית, ), commonly known as HaAvoda ( he, הָעֲבוֹדָה, , The Labor), is a social democratic and Zionist political party in Israel. The p ...

. The SWL was dissolved and does not exist any more. In July 2007, the IDMC comrades left the

following the former's demand for military support in the

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

movement and their refusal to accept the work of the IMT within the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...

, adopting some of the politics of the SWL again but upholding the

state capitalism State capitalism is an economic system in which the state undertakes business and commercial (i.e. for-profit) economic activity and where the means of production are nationalized as state-owned enterprises (including the processes of capital a ...

analysis of the USSR and changing their name to the Internationalist Socialist League. Communism in Israel Political organizations based in Israel Trotskyist organizations in Asia