Free Centre
Encyclopedia
The Free Centre was a political party in Israel
, and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Likud
.
when Shmuel Tamir
led a breakaway of three Herut
members (the other two being Eliezer Shostak
and Avraham Tiar) after a leadership dispute with Menachem Begin
. Before the next election they were joined by Shlomo Cohen-Tzidon
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
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 Likud
alliance formed by Herut
, the Liberal Party
(which had formerly been allied as Gahal
), the National List
and the Movement for Greater Israel
. The new alliance won 39 seats, with four taken by the Free Centre - Tamir and Shostak were joined by Ehud Olmert
and Akiva Nof
..
In 1974, internal conflict led to Shostak and Ehud Olmert
leaving the Free Centre to establish the Independent Centre
, which later merged into the La'am
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
. They were both elected to the ninth Knesset
as members of the new party, though Nof later defected back to Likud after a spell in Ahva
.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
.
Background
The party was created on 29 March 1967 during the sixth KnessetIsraeli legislative election, 1965
Elections for the sixth Knesset were held in Israel on 1 November 1965. Voter turnout was 85.9%.-Background:Prior to the elections, two major alliances were formed; Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda united to form the Alignment, whilst Herut and the Liberal Party had formed the Gahal alliance towards the end...
when Shmuel Tamir
Shmuel Tamir
Shmuel M. Tamir was a prominent Israeli independence fighter, lawyer, Knesset member from 1965 to 1980, and Minister of Justice in the government of Menachem Begin from 1977 until 1980-Irgun:...
led a breakaway of three Herut
Herut
Herut was the major right-wing political party in Israel from the 1940s until its formal merger into Likud in 1988, and an adherent of Revisionist Zionism.-History:...
members (the other two being Eliezer Shostak
Eliezer Shostak
Eliezer Shostak 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:...
and Avraham Tiar) after a leadership dispute with Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
. Before the next election they were joined by Shlomo Cohen-Tzidon
Shlomo Cohen-Tzidon
Shlomo Cohen-Tzidon is a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Gahal and the Free Centre between 1966 and 1969.-Biography:...
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
Israeli legislative election, 1969
Elections for the seventh Knesset were held in Israel on 28 October 1969. Voter turnout was 81.7%.-Results:¹ Meir Avizohar defected from the National List to the Alignment² Avner Shaki left the National Religious Party and remained a single MK...
the Free Centre only just passed the electoral threshold
Election threshold
In party-list proportional representation systems, an election threshold is a clause that stipulates that a party must receive a minimum percentage of votes, either nationally or within a particular district, to obtain any seats in the parliament...
of 1%, claiming 1.2% of the vote and 2 seats, which were taken by Tamir and Shostak.
Before the 1973 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1973
The Elections for the eighth Knesset were held on 31 December 1973. Voter turnout was 78.6%.-Results:1 Aryeh Eliav left the Alignment and merged with Ratz to form Ya'ad - Civil Rights Movement...
it joined the Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
alliance formed by Herut
Herut
Herut was the major right-wing political party in Israel from the 1940s until its formal merger into Likud in 1988, and an adherent of Revisionist Zionism.-History:...
, the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (Israel)
The Israeli Liberal Party was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Likud.-History:The Liberal Party was formed on 8 May 1961, towards the end of the fourth Knesset, by a merger of the General Zionists and the Progressive Party, with the new party having 14...
(which had formerly been allied as Gahal
Gahal
Gahal , lit. Herut-Liberals Bloc) was the major right-wing political faction in Israel led by Menachem Begin from its founding in 1965 until it merged into Likud in 1973.-Background:...
), the National List
National List
The National List , sometimes translated as the State List, was a political party in Israel. Despite being founded by David Ben-Gurion, one of the fathers of the Israeli left, the party is an ancestor of the modern-day Likud, Israel's largest right-wing bloc.-Background:The National List had been...
and the Movement for Greater Israel
Movement for Greater Israel
The Movement for Greater Israel was a political organisation in Israel during the 1960s and 1970s which subscribed to an ideology of Greater Israel....
. The new alliance won 39 seats, with four taken by the Free Centre - Tamir and Shostak were joined by Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003....
and Akiva Nof
Akiva Nof
Akiva Nof is a former Israeli politician and song-writer, who served as a member of the Knesset for five parties between 1974 and 1984.-Biography:...
..
In 1974, internal conflict led to Shostak and Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003....
leaving the Free Centre to establish the Independent Centre
Independent Centre
-History:The faction was established by Eliezer Shostak and Ehud Olmert in 1974 when they broke away from the Free Centre, a member of the Likud alliance. The new faction remained part of Likud....
, which later merged into the La'am
La'am
La'am 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 consisted of an alliance of several right wing parties. The two largest blocs were Herut and the Liberal Party, which had formed the Gahal...
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
Israeli legislative election, 1973
The Elections for the eighth Knesset were held on 31 December 1973. Voter turnout was 78.6%.-Results:1 Aryeh Eliav left the Alignment and merged with Ratz to form Ya'ad - Civil Rights Movement...
. Both resigned from the Knesset on 25 January 1977, and joined the Democratic Movement for Change
Democratic Movement for Change
The Democratic Movement for Change , commonly known by its Hebrew acronym Dash was a short-lived and initially highly-successful centrist political party in Israel...
. They were both elected to the ninth Knesset
Israeli legislative election, 1977
The Elections for the ninth Knesset were held on 17 May 1977. For the first time in Israeli political history, the right-wing, led by Likud, won the election, ending almost 30 years of rule by the left-wing Alignment and its predecessor, Mapai...
as members of the new party, though Nof later defected back to Likud after a spell in Ahva
Ahva (political party)
Ahva was a short-lived political party in Israel, one of several spinoffs created by the collapse of Dash.-Background:Ahva was formed on 8 July 1980 when two MKs broke away from the Democratic Movement, itself a relatively new party, having been formed in 1978 when Dash split up...
.
Knesset members
| Knesset | Members |
|---|---|
| 6 Israeli legislative election, 1965 Elections for the sixth Knesset were held in Israel on 1 November 1965. Voter turnout was 85.9%.-Background:Prior to the elections, two major alliances were formed; Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda united to form the Alignment, whilst Herut and the Liberal Party had formed the Gahal alliance towards the end... (1967-1969) 4 seats |
Shlomo Cohen-Tzidon Shlomo Cohen-Tzidon Shlomo Cohen-Tzidon is a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Gahal and the Free Centre between 1966 and 1969.-Biography:... , Eliezer Shostak Eliezer Shostak Eliezer Shostak 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:... , Shmuel Tamir Shmuel Tamir Shmuel M. Tamir was a prominent Israeli independence fighter, lawyer, Knesset member from 1965 to 1980, and Minister of Justice in the government of Menachem Begin from 1977 until 1980-Irgun:... , Avraham Tiar |
| 7 Israeli legislative election, 1969 Elections for the seventh Knesset were held in Israel on 28 October 1969. Voter turnout was 81.7%.-Results:¹ Meir Avizohar defected from the National List to the Alignment² Avner Shaki left the National Religious Party and remained a single MK... (1969-1974) 2 seats |
Eliezer Shostak Eliezer Shostak Eliezer Shostak 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:... , Shmuel Tamir Shmuel Tamir Shmuel M. Tamir was a prominent Israeli independence fighter, lawyer, Knesset member from 1965 to 1980, and Minister of Justice in the government of Menachem Begin from 1977 until 1980-Irgun:... |
| 8 Israeli legislative election, 1973 The Elections for the eighth Knesset were held on 31 December 1973. Voter turnout was 78.6%.-Results:1 Aryeh Eliav left the Alignment and merged with Ratz to form Ya'ad - Civil Rights Movement... (1974-1977) 4 seats |
Akiva Nof Akiva Nof Akiva Nof is a former Israeli politician and song-writer, who served as a member of the Knesset for five parties between 1974 and 1984.-Biography:... , Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003.... , Eliezer Shostak Eliezer Shostak Eliezer Shostak 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:... , Shmuel Tamir Shmuel Tamir Shmuel M. Tamir was a prominent Israeli independence fighter, lawyer, Knesset member from 1965 to 1980, and Minister of Justice in the government of Menachem Begin from 1977 until 1980-Irgun:... |
External links
- Free Center Knesset website