Gesher – Zionist Religious Centre was a short-lived political faction in Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 in 1984.

Background

The faction was formed on 29 May 1984, during the 10th Knesset

Israeli legislative election, 1981

Elections for the tenth Knesset were held in Israel on 30 June 1981. Despite last minute polls suggesting a victory for Shimon Peres's Alignment, Menachem Begin's Likud won by just one seat...

, when two MKs, Yehuda Ben-Meir

Yehuda Ben-Meir

Dr Yehuda Ben-Meir is a former Israeli academic and politician who served as a membef of the Knesset for the National Religious Party and Gesher – Zionist Religious Centre between 1971 and 1984.-Biography:...

 and Zevulun Hammer

Zevulun Hammer

Zevulun Hammer was an Israeli politician, minister and Deputy Prime Minister.-Biography:Hammer was born in Haifa during the British Mandate of Palestine. He was an active member of the Bnei Akiva youth movement , and served in the Israeli Armored Corps in a Nahal programme...

, broke away from the National Religious Party

National Religious Party

The National Religious Party ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist movement. Formed in 1956, at the time of its dissolution in 2008, it was the second oldest surviving party in the country after Agudat Yisrael, and was part of every government coalition until 1992...

. Both were prominent members of the party, with Hammer serving as Minister of Education, Culture and Sport and Ben-Meir being Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel

The Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel is the political head of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The position is one of the most important in the Israeli cabinet after Prime Minister and Defense Minister...

. The faction took the Gesher part of its name from the youth faction within the NRP.

The faction did not last long, as the two returned to the NRP on 12 June.

Ben-Meir later left the NRP again to be one of the founding members of the left-wing religious party Meimad

Meimad

Meimad is a left-wing religious Zionist political party in Israel. Founded in 1999, it is based on the ideology of the Meimad movement founded in 1988 by Rabbi Yehuda Amital. At the national level, it was in alliance with the Labour Party, and until the 2006 elections, received 10th spot on the...

, whilst Hammer went on to become leader of the NRP.

External links

• Gesher – Zionist Religious Centre Knesset website