The Left Camp of Israel was a left-wing political party in Israel

Israel

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

. It was also known as Sheli (Hebrew: של"י), an acronym for Peace for Israel (Hebrew: שלום לישראל, Shalom LeYisrael).

Background

The party was formed prior to the 1977 elections

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...

 by the merger of Meri

Meri (political party)

Meri , lit. Israeli Radical Camp) was a small radical left-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in the 1960s as HaOlam HaZeh – Koah Hadash by Uri Avnery, editor of HaOlam HaZeh.-History:...

, Moked

Moked

Moked was a left-wing political party in Israel.-Background:Moked came into existence during the seventh Knesset, when Maki merged with the Blue-Red Movement, which was unrepresented....

, the Independent Socialist Faction

Independent Socialist Faction

The Independent Socialist Faction was a political party in Israel in the 1970s.-Background:The party was established on 27 January 1976, during the eighth Knesset, as the Social-Democratic Faction, when Aryeh Eliav and Marcia Freedman left Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement. Prior to its creation,...

 and some members of the Black Panthers

Israeli Black Panthers

The Black Panthers were an Israeli protest movement of second-generation Jewish immigrants from Middle Eastern countries. They were one of the first organizations in Israel with the mission of working for social justice for the Mizrahi Jews...

. It won two seats in the elections, which were held on a rotation basis by five party members; Uri Avnery

Uri Avnery

Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement.A member of the Irgun as a teenager, Avnery sat in the Knesset from 1965–74 and 1979–81...

 (previously an MK for Meri), Aryeh Eliav

Aryeh Eliav

Arie "Lova" Eliav, born Lev Lipschitz , , was an Israeli politician and former member of the Knesset.-Biography:...

 (an MK for the Independent Socialist Faction in the previous 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...

), Meir Pa'il

Meir Pa'il

-Biography:Born in Jerusalem during the Mandate era as Meir Pilevsky, Pa'il served in the Palmach between 1943 and 1948, after which he became a Brigade commander in the new Israel Defense Forces. He also headed the Central Officers School and the Department of Military Theory for the General Staff...

 (an ex-Moked MK), Saadia Marciano

Saadia Marciano

Saadia Marciano was an Israeli social activist and politician, and founder of the Israeli Black Panthers.-Biography:Born in Oujda, Morocco in 1950, Marciano's family immigrated to Israel before his first birthday, where he grew up in the Musrara neighborhood of Jerusalem...

 and Walid Haj Yahia

Walid Haj Yahia

Walid Haj Yahia is an Israeli Arab former politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Left Camp of Israel and Meretz.-Biography:...

.

On 11 November 1980, Marciano broke away from the party to form a single-member faction, later renamed Equality in Israel - Panthers

Unity Party (Israel)

The Unity Party , officially the Unity Party for the Advancement and Education of the Society in Israel and originally known as Equality in Israel – Panthers was a short-lived political party in...

. On 19 May 1981 he was joined by former Dash

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...

 MK, Mordechai Elgrably

Mordechai Elgrably

Mordechai Elgrably is an Israeli former politician who served as a member of the Knesset for several parties between 1977 and 1981.-Biography:Born in Meknes in Morocco, Elgrably received a religious education and was a member of the scout movement...

. The new party was later renamed as the Unity Party.

The party failed to cross the election threshold in the 1981 election

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...

 and subsequently disappeared, though many former party members joined the Progressive List for Peace

Progressive List for Peace

The Progressive List for Peace was a left-wing political party in Israel formed from an alliance of both Arab and Jewish left-wing activists.-History:...

.

External links

• Left Camp of Israel (Sheli) Knesset website