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Durham E-Theses Durham E-Theses The Israeli labour party in opposition and in the national unity government, 1977-1992 Lochery, Neill How to cite: Lochery, Neill (1996) The Israeli labour party in opposition and in the national unity government, 1977-1992, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5243/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 DURHAM UNIVERSITY . THE ISRAELI LABOUR PARTY IN OPPOSITION AND IN THE NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT, 1977-1992. A THESIS SUBMITIED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY CENTRE FOR MIDDLE EAST STUDIES. BY NEILL LOCHERY JANUARY, 1996 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. 22MI WI ABSTRACT The Israel Labour Party and its forerunner Mapai dominated both the pre-state Jewish organisations in Palestine and the early years of the state of Israel prior to 1977. This thesis covers the period between 1977 and 1992 which saw the party's first electoral defeat (1977) and its eventual return to power (1992). It will argue that during this period the Labour Party was transformed from a dominant party with power (prior to 1977) to a dominant party without power (1977-1981). The years between 1981 and 1992 witnessed the development a more competitive party system in Israel with the Labour Party's status being transformed to that of a non­ dominant party either without power (1981-1984 and 1990-1992) or with a share of power during the National Unity Goverment years (1984-1990). A central theme of the thesis is the continuing "conditioning effects" of the period of dominance in shaping the Labour Party's development, even after it was no longer considered to be a dominant party. This was also in part related to the problem of defining political power in Israel as the Labour Party after its defeat in the parliamentary election in 1977 continued to enjoy a high degree of penetration into the everyday life of the population through its continued control of key institutions in Israel. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the period prior to 1977 and examines the development of the labour movement within the dynamic Israeli society as well as the Labour's Party's (Mapai's) relationship with the Israeli political system. In addition, it analyses the existing frameworks for explaining the decline of the Labour Party which was illustrated by its election defeat in 1977. The second part examines the developments of the party between 1977 and 1992 and is divided into historical periods which cover the various changes of government. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As well as thanking all of the interviewees the researcher wishes to thank the following: My Mum for all her help. My Supervisor Professor Niblock Monica Pollack for everything in Israel. Amichai Geva for the history lessons. Osnat at Labour Party Headquarters in Tel Aviv Betty in the Documentation of the above. Dr. Chaim Asa for election data. Professor. Michal Shamir for everything. Dr. Danny Kom for filling in the blanks. Mr. Avraham Hatzhanni for opening his telephone book. Yossi Mustaki (Foreign Ministry) and his diary. Rodney Sanders (the Likud). Michael (aide to Bibi Netanyahu). To everyone at the Knesset and in particular the parliamentary aides to all the Knesset members. Avril Sheilds Sheldon Shulman (Government Press Office). ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .........................................................................................ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ...........................................................................................iii List of Tables ..................................................................................................viii List of lllustrations ...........................................................................................ix GLOSSARY.............................................................................................................. x INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................xiii CHAPTER 1. THE HISTORY AND STRUCTURE OF THE ISRAEL LABOUR PARTY PRIOR TO 1977......................................................................................................... 1 1.1: The Early Years 1900-1948....................................................................... 3 1.2: The Development of State 1948-1967............. : ....................................... 12 1.3: The Years of lmmobilism 1967 to 1973................................................... 18 1.4: Crisis of Confidence 1973-1977.............................................................. 21 CHAPTER 2. EXISTING APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF THE ISRAELI LABOUR PARTY IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM ............................. 28 2.1: Dominant Party Theories and Systems ..................................................28 2.2: Party Organisation: The Party Elite Framework..................................... 32 2.3: The Electoral System, Coalitions and Intra-Party Conflict..................... 37 2.3.1: The Coalition Forming Process ........................................................... 41 CHAPTER 3. THE 1977 ELECTION AND THE DECLINE OF THE LABOUR PARTY. 46 3.1: Background, Organisation and Personalities of the 1977 Campaign .... 46 3.2: Results and Analysis of Election ............................................................ .49 3.3: The Decline of the Labour Party: Four Frameworks ............................... 52 iii 3.3.1: The Political Dynamics Framework ...................................................... 53 3.3.2: The Political Culture Framework ...........................................................56 3.3.3: National Conflict Structuring Internal Politics Framework..................... 67 3.3.4: The Political Economy Framework....................................................... 70 Conclusion ......................................................................................................73 CHAPTER 4. THE LABOUR PARTY IN OPPOSITION 1977-1981 ......................... 76 4.1: Internal Party Response to the 1977 Election .......................................... 79 4.2: Representation within the Party, Internal Change and Generational Conflict..................................................................................................... 82 4.2.1: An Assessment of Change ...................................................................88 4.3: The Likud-led Government, Issues of the Day and Labour Party Responses ..............................................................................................92 4.3.1: The Camp David Accords ....................................................................95 4.3.2: Post Camp David .................................................................................99 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 101 CHAPTER 5. A SECOND TERM IN OPPOSITION: THE ISRAEL LABOUR PARTY 1981-1984.............................................................................................................. 103 5. 1: Background to the 1981 Knesset Elections .......................................... 104 5.2: The 1981 Knesset Campaign ................................................................ 106 5.3: Statistical Analysis of the 1981 Knesset Elections ................................ 109 5.3.1: Analysis of the Labour Performance in the Election ........................... 114 5.4: Internal Labour Party Response to the 1981 Election ........................... 117 5.5: The Likud Government, Issues of the Day and the Labour Party Response .............................................................................................. 121 Conclusion ....................................................................................................130 iv CHAPTER 6. THE NATIONAL UNITY YEARS 1984-1988 .................................... 132 6.1: Background and Campaign for the 1984 Knesset Election .................. 133 6.2: Statistical Analysis of the 1984 Knesset Elections Results .................. 137 6.2.1: An Analysis of the Labour Performance in the 1984 Election ............. 141 6.3: Formation and Consequences of the National Unity Government.. ..... 144 6.4: Performance of the NUG and Issues of the Day .................................. 150 6.4.1: National Unity Government 1984-1986.............................................. 151 6.4.2: National Unity Government 1986-1988.............................................. 156 6.5: Labour Party Internal Reform ................................................................ 160 Conclusion ..................................................................................................
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