Mizrachi (political party)

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Not to be confused with Zionist Organization Mizrachi.
Mizrachi
המזרחי‎
LeaderYitzchak Yaacov Reines
Yehuda Leib Maimon
David-Zvi Pinkas
Mordechai Nurock
Founded1902
Dissolved1956
Merged intoNational Religious Party
NewspaperHaTzofe
IdeologyReligious Zionism
AlliancesUnited Religious Front (1949–1951)
National Religious Front (1955–1956)
Most MKs4 (1949–1951)
Fewest MKs2 (1951–1956)
Election symbol

Mizrachi (Hebrew: המזרחי, HaMizrahi, an acronym for Merkaz Ruhani (מרכז רוחני‎), lit. 'Religious Centre') was a political party in Israel, and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day National Religious Party–Religious Zionism.

History

The

Mizrachi movement was founded in 1902 in Vilnius as a religious Zionist organisation. It also had a trade union, Hapoel HaMizrachi, started in 1921. In the British Mandate of Palestine
, the movement developed into a political party, HaMizrachi.

For the

elections for the first Knesset, it ran as part of a joint list called the United Religious Front, alongside the Hapoel HaMizrachi, Agudat Yisrael, and Poalei Agudat Yisrael. The group won 16 seats, of which Mizrachi took four, making it the third-largest party in the Knesset, after Mapai and Mapam. It was invited to join the coalition government by David Ben-Gurion
.

The United Religious Front played a major part in bringing down the first government, due to it disagreement with Mapai over issues pertaining to education in the new immigrant camps and the religious education system, as well as its demands that the Supply and Rationing Ministry be closed and a businessman appointed as Minister for Trade and Industry. Ben-Gurion resigned on 16 October 1950. When the problems had been solved two weeks later, he formed the second government, with the same coalition partners and ministers as previously.

In the

Minister of Transportation, and Mordechai Nurock
became Minister of Postal Services. However, when the third government collapsed, both Pinkas and Nurock lost their ministerial positions, although the party remained in the coalitions of the fourth, fifth, and sixth governments.

For the 1955 elections, the party joined forces with its ideological twin, Hapoel HaMizrachi, to form the National Religious Front. The new party won 11 seats (though only two were held by Mizrachi members), making it the fourth-largest, and were again coalition partners in both governments of the third Knesset. In 1956, the union of the two parties was made permanent, and the name changed to the National Religious Party.

Election results

Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Government
1920 Yehuda Leib Maimon
9 / 314
 New N/A
1925
7 / 221
 Decrease 1 N/A
1931 With Hapoel HaMizrachi
5 / 71
 Decrease 2 N/A
1944 6,513 3.28
7 / 173
 Increase 2 N/A
1949 Part of the United Religious Front
4 / 120
 Decrease 3 Coalition
1951 David-Zvi Pinkas 10,383 1.51
2 / 120
 Decrease 2 Coalition
1955 Mordechai Nurock Part of National Religious Front
2 / 120
 Steady Coalition

Knesset members

Knesset
(MKs) 		Knesset Members
1st
(1949–1951)
(4) 		Yehuda Leib Maimon, Mordechai Nurock, David-Zvi Pinkas, Avraham-Haim Shag
2nd (1951–1955)
(2) 		Mordechai Nurock, David-Zvi Pinkas (replaced by Shlomo-Yisrael Ben-Meir)
3rd (1955–1956)
(2) 		Mordechai Nurock, Shlomo-Yisrael Ben-Meir

References

  1. ^ "Mizrahi". Israel Democracy Institute.
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