Center Party (Israel)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Centre Party (Israel)
)
Center Party
מפלגת המרכז‎
Leader
Founded23 February 1999
Dissolved2003
Split from
Gesher-Tzomet and Labor
HeadquartersRamat Gan
IdeologyCentrism
Political positionCenter
Most MKs6 (1999–2001)
Fewest MKs3 (2002–2003)
Election symbol
פה‎
Website
hamercaz.org.il

The Center Party (מפלגת המרכז‎,

Binyamin Netanyahu on the right and opposition leader Ehud Barak's Labor Party
on the left.

Platform

The Center party platform promoted new thinking about national unity, leadership credibility and strategic planning and hoped to establish new institutional rules to guide public life, including a written constitution.[1]

History

1999 Election

The party was established on 23 February 1999, towards the end of the

14th Knesset's term, by Mordechai, David Magen and Dan Meridor from Likud, Hagai Meirom and Nissim Zvili of Labor, and Eliezer Sandberg of Tzomet. However, the most significant ally for Mordechai was General Amnon Lipkin-Shahak
, the just-retired army Chief-of-Staff who had been a bitter rival for that post in 1994.

The party borrowed many of its themes from The Third Way, a group that split with the Labor Party in 1994 over the latter's willingness to negotiate the return of the Golan Heights to Syria for a peace treaty. However, by 1999 The Third Way was a partner of the Likud government and had lost public support due to its lack of influence on Netanyahu. Mordechai wanted further progress in the Oslo Accords, and clashed with the prime minister and other members of his cabinet.

Bringing Dan Meridor on board was important. One of the Likud's younger members, Meridor had a solid record as minister of justice from 1988 until 1992, was the son of Irgun resistance member and later Knesset member Eliyahu Meridor, and was a civilian counterbalance to Mordechai.[2]

1999 elections

Prior to the

direct election for prime minister
but dropped out when it became clear that Ehud Barak was rising in the polls. In the Knesset elections, the Center Party won roughly 5% of the vote, enough for 6 seats.

Joining the government

The party joined Ehud Barak's

Yehiel Lasry defected back to Likud, and Rabin-Pelossof, Lipkin, and Uri Savir formed the New Way after Barak lost elections for prime minister to Ariel Sharon in 2001. By the end of the Knesset term only Meridor and Nehama Ronen remained in the faction. The party did not run in the 2003 elections
.

Election results

Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Status
1999
 Yitzhak Mordechai 165,622 5.0 (#8)
6 / 120
 Increase 6 Government
2003 Dan Meridor 1,961 0.06 (#21)
0 / 120
 Decrease 6 Extraparliamentary

References

  1. ^ Israel at the Polls, 1999, eds Daniel Judah Elazar and M. Ben Mollov
  2. ^ "Center Party". en.idi.org.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2019-07-28.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Center_Party_(Israel)&oldid=1144413844"