Tzomet
Tzomet צומת | |
|---|---|
Right-wing | |
| Colours | Blue Red |
| Most MKs | 8 (1992) |
| Knesset | 0 / 120 |
| Election symbol | |
| ץ (1988–1999, 2009) צ (2003) כץ (2006) זץ (2019–) | |
| Website | |
| tsomet | |
Tzomet (Hebrew: צוֹמֶת, lit., Crossroads) is a small, right-wing political party in Israel.
History
The party was founded by General
The splintering and infighting reduced the popularity of the party, despite this, ahead of the
Following the dissolution of the Likud–Gesher–Tzomet alliance ahead of the
Despite Rafael Eitan's departure, the party, now headed by Moshe Gerin, ran in the 2003, the 2006 elections, and the 2009 elections, but won only 2,023, 1,342, and 1,520 votes, respectively, in the three elections, not meeting the election threshold in any of them. Following their failure to reach the threshold in four successive elections, the party decided not to run in the 2013 and 2015 elections.
Modern Tzomet
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In the lead up to the April 2019 elections, Likud MK Oren Hazan failed to achieve a realistic spot in the Likud list, receiving only a small number of votes in the primaries.[4] Following his failure in the Likud primaries, Oren Hazan declared that he would leave the Likud and head his own party, taking over the long-dormant Tzomet party.[5]
Hazan reformed the party, abandoning Eitan's secularism and statesmanlike conduct in favor of Hazan's own rightwing populist policy and rhetoric. Under Hazan, Tzomet received the best result since Eitan's departure, earning 2,417 votes. Despite Hazan's marginal success, this result was far from enough to reach the electoral threshold, and Oren Hazan lost his Knesset seat.[6]
Following Hazan's failure to revive the party, it returned to the hands of Moshe Gerin who brought the party back to its original form, focusing on agrarianism and settlement.[7] The party received an even better result in the September 2019 elections, receiving 14,805 votes (0.33% of the popular vote).
Ideology
Tzomet's ideology was heavily reflective of Rafael Eitan (Raful) himself. Eitan was a
- Ultra Orthodox Jews.
- Annexation of the West Bank.
- Restricting voting rights only to those who have completed national service.
- Switching to a presidential system.
- Aggressive policy against Palestinian terrorism.
- Economic policy based on economic liberalism and agriculture.
Under the leadership of Oren Hazan, Tzomet's ideology changed considerably. Tzomet no longer mentioned any changes to Israel's voting or government system. Hazan shifted Tzomet's focus away from secularism and recruitment of the Ultra Orthodox. Under Hazan, Tzomet focused primarily on criticizing Netanyahu's defense policy from the right and supporting more aggressive measures against terrorism and against the
Leaders
| Leader | Took office | Left office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Rafael Eitan | 1983 | 1999 | |
| Moshe Gerin | 1999 | 2009 | ||
|
Oren Hazan | 2019 | 2019 | |
| Moshe Gerin | 2019 | Incumbent | ||
Election results
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Rafael Eitan | With Tehiya | 1 / 120
|
New | Opposition | |
| 1988 | 45,489 | 2.0 (#10) | 2 / 120
|
 1
|
Coalition | |
| 1992 | 166,366 | 6.4 (#4) | 8 / 120
|
6
|
Opposition | |
1996
|
With Gesher
|
5 / 120
|
 3
|
Coalition | ||
1999
|
4,128 | 0.1 | 0 / 120
|
5
|
Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2003 | Moshe Gerin | 2,023 | 0.06 | 0 / 120
|
|
Extra-parliamentary |
| 2006 | 1,342 | 0.04 | 0 / 120
|
|
Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2009 | 1,520 | 0.05 | 0 / 120
|
|
Extra-parliamentary | |
| Apr 2019 | Oren Hazan | 2,417 | 0.06 | 0 / 120
|
|
Extra-parliamentary |
| Sep 2019 | Moshe Gerin | 14,627 | 0.33 | 0 / 120
|
|
Extra-parliamentary |
| 2020 | Did not contest | Extra-parliamentary | ||||
| 2021 | 663 | 0.02 | 0 / 120
|
|
Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2022 | 377 | 0.01 | 0 / 120
|
|
Extra-parliamentary | |
Knesset members
| Year | Members | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Rafael Eitan | 1 |
| 1988 | Rafael Eitan, Yoash Tzidon | 2 |
| 1992 | Rafael Eitan, Pini Badash, Alex Goldfarb, Haim Dayan, Eliezer Sandberg, Esther Salmovitz, Moshe Peled, Gonen Segev | 8 |
| 1994 | Rafael Eitan, Pini Badash, Haim Dayan, Eliezer Sandberg, Moshe Peled | 5 |
| 1998 | Rafael Eitan, Haim Dayan, Eliezer Sandberg, Moshe Peled | 4 |
| 1999 | Rafael Eitan, Haim Dayan | 2 |
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0810837782.
- ^ "Twelfth Knesset". Knesset. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- ^ a b "Mergers and Splits Among Parliamentary Groups". Knesset. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- ^ Staff (6 February 2019). "Oren Hazan unlikely to serve in next Knesset". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- Israel National News. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^ Yossi Verter (13 April 2019). "Israel's Shallow Election Campaign Ended as It Deserved: A Farce". Haaretz. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- ^ Israel National News. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
- ^ "צומת". ןidi. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
- ^ Erik Bender (19 March 2019). "בעקבות סרטון בחירות: זחאלקה מגיש תלונה נגד חזן בגין הסתה לרצח". Maariv. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
External links
- Party history Knesset website
- Israel Today Elections 96 Jewish Agency