Politics of Israel
Politics in Israel are dominated by Zionist parties. They traditionally fall into three camps, the first two being the largest: Labor Zionism, revisionist Zionism, and religious Zionism. There are also several non-Zionist Orthodox religious parties and non-Zionist secular left-wing groups, as well as non-Zionist and anti-Zionist Israeli Arab parties.
This article is about the political parties and conditions in Israel. For the political structure of Israel, see Israeli system of government.Early history (1948–1977)
During the 1948 Palestine war (part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and more widely the Arab–Israeli conflict), the State of Israel was formed in the Palestine region, then under British rule. Until the 1977 Knesset election, Israel was ruled by successive coalition governments led by Mapai or the Mapai-dominated Alignment. From 1967 to 1970, a national unity government included all of Israel's parties except for the Communist Party of Israel's two factions. In 1968, the Israeli Labor Party formed from three earlier left-leaning parties, but was defeated in the 1977 election by Menachem Begin's centre-to-right Revisionist Zionist Likud bloc[1] (then composed of Herut, the Liberals and the smaller La'am Party). The Likud formed a coalition with the National Religious Party, Agudat Israel, and others.
Major issues in Israeli political life include: