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 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 ...

. 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 Sharon ...

History

The party was created on 29 March 1967 during the sixth Knesset when

Shmuel Tamir Shmuel M. Tamir ( he, שמואל תמיר, born Shmuel Katznelson; 10 March 1923 – 29 June 1987) was a prominent Israeli independence fighter, lawyer, patriot and Knesset member. After a successful career fighting the British he entered the K ...

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 Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. B ...

. Before the next election they were joined by

Shlomo Cohen-Tzidon Shlomo Cohen-Tzidon ( he, שלמה כהן-צידון, 15 February 1923 - 16 February 2012) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Gahal and the Free Centre between 1966 and 1969. Biography Born in Alexandria in Egypt ...

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

alliance formed by

, 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 Ehud Olmert (; he, אֶהוּד אוֹלְמֶרְט, ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and before that as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and ...

and

Akiva Nof Akiva Nof ( he, עקיבא נוף, born 2 December 1936) is an Israeli poet and songwriter, composer, politician, lawyer and a journalist, who served three terms as a member of the Knesset between 1974 and 1984. Biography Nof was born Akiva Napa ...

. In 1974, internal conflict led to Shostak and

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 The Democratic Movement for Change (, ''Tnu'a Demokratit LeShinui''), commonly known by its Hebrew acronym Dash (), was a short-lived and initially highly successful centrist political party in Israel. Formed in 1976 by numerous well-known non-pol ...

. 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 Center
Knesset 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