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| Likud party banner in Hebrew Photo: File
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Likud
The Likud
is Israel’s major center-right party and main rival to the Labor Party. It was formed in 1973, when the Herut Party and the Liberal Party joined forces.
The Likud’s ideological roots come from Zeev Jabotinsky,
whose national-liberal Beitar movement was the main opposition to David Ben-Gurion’s socialist Mapai party.
While the party has traditionally opposed ceding land, it was under Likud Prime Minister Menachem Begin
that Israel withdrew from the Sinai under the Camp David Accords
signed with Egypt.
Begin’s 1977 election victory over Labor candidate Shimon Peres marked the first Likud election win, as well as the first Labor defeat since the founding of the state.
Likud prime ministers include Begin (1977-1983), Yitzhak Shamir (1983-1984, 1986-1992), Benjamin Netanyahu (1996-1999) and Ariel Sharon (2001-present.)
Traditionally, the Likud has strongly supported the settlement enterprise in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but Prime Minister Sharon’s disengagement plan, which calls for evacuating all settlements in the Gaza Strip, has created an ideological dilemma for the party.
While party moderates support the plan, many Likudniks, including right-wing ministers and the Likud Central Committee, oppose relinquishing any settlements.
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