Yisrael Beiteinu
Yisrael Beiteinu ישראל ביתנו | |
---|---|
Russian speakers' interests[11] | |
Political position | Centre-right to right-wing |
Knesset | 6 / 120 |
Most MKs | 15 (2009) |
Least MKs | 3 (2003) |
Election symbol | |
ל ل [12] | |
Website | |
beytenu | |
Yisrael Beiteinu (
It takes a hard line towards the
The party won 15 seats in the 2009 election, its most to date, making it the third-largest party in the
History
Yisrael Beiteinu has its origins in the Israel of the late 1990s, when former Director-General of the
For the
In the
During the election campaign, Yisrael Beiteinu split from mainstream right-wing policy by offering a new peace plan based upon land and population transfers; this became known as the
In January 2008 the party left the government in protest against talks with the
On 22 December 2008, Lieberman approved the party's list for the
On 25 October 2012, Lieberman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Yisrael Beiteinu and Likud would run together on a single ballot in Israel's 22 January 2013 general elections known as Likud Yisrael Beiteinu. "In view of the challenges we're facing, we need responsibility on a national level ... We're providing a true alternative, and an opportunity for the citizens to stabilize leadership and government", Lieberman said.[29]
The joint list was not very successful in the 2013 elections, as the combined seats of the two parties dropped from 42 to 31. Despite the fall in strength, the joint list was still able to lead Israel's new government, and Yisrael Beiteinu retained most of its strength by holding 13 seats in the joint list. Lieberman was reappointed as Netanyahu's foreign minister. The alliance was officially dissolved on 9 July 2014, and the two parties did not run together in the next elections. On 24 December, Yisrael Beiteinu was hit by a major corruption scandal, which greatly hurt the party's image in the public eye and its standing in the polls.[30]
The 2015 elections were a disaster for Yisrael Beiteinu, as the party plummeted to just 6 MKs, losing over half its strength in the Knesset. Many of the party's former Knesset Members, such as Faina Kirschenbaum were implicated in the corruption scandal that hit the party, and therefore Lieberman had to reshuffle his list and bring forth many new people, such as the journalist Sharon Gal. Despite supporting the formation of a government by Netanyahu, Lieberman chose to keep his party in the opposition, due to personal disputes with Netanyahu and ideological disputes with the Haredi parties such as Shas and United Torah Judaism.[31] On 26 May 2016, Yisrael Beiteinu joined Netanyahu's coalition, Lieberman himself was appointed as Minister of Defense . Orly Levy left the party over the entry into the coalition and sat as an independent Knesset Member until the next elections, where she went on to found the Gesher party.
On 14 November 2018, Lieberman announced his resignation from the Israeli government, in protest to a new Gaza ceasefire.[32][33][34] On 16 November 2018, Netanyahu stated that he would name himself the new Defense Minister.[35] As a result of Lieberman's departure, Yisrael Beiteinu also quit Netanyahu's coalition government.[36] Lieberman's resignation was completed on 18 November 2018.[37] The narrow government that followed Yisrael Beiteinu's departure led to Netanyahu calling a new election.
In the resulting 2019 elections, Yisrael Beiteinu ran a campaign focused on branding itself as a party for the "Secular Right", and focused on the issue of conscripting Haredi Jews while simultaneously supporting aggressive security policy against Palestinian terrorism. During the election period, polling showed that Yisrael Beiteinu was at risk of falling below the electoral threshold required to enter the Knesset for the first time in its history, however, despite these polls, the party managed to get 5 seats in the new Knesset, giving it the ability to decide whether Netanyahu formed a right-wing government. The government formation in 2019 was somewhat of a repeat of the situation in the previous elections; Yisrael Beiteinu supported Netanyahu to form a government, but refused to join it, citing an ideological dispute with the Haredi parties over the Haredi draft law as the reason for remaining in the opposition. Lieberman's refusal to join Netanyahu's coalition led to new elections being called.[38]
On 15 June 2019, ahead of the September 2019 elections, Lieberman announced that Yisrael Beiteinu would only support a national-unity government composed of Likud and the centrist Blue and White and devoid of Haredi parties. In an interview with Israel's Channel 13, Lieberman said: "We will aim for a government with Likud and with Kahol Lavan, and that will be an emergency government, a national-liberal government...We will do everything to limit the Haredim, so that they won't enter the government"[39]
Following the 2020 Israeli legislative election, Yisrael Beiteinu won seven seats, losing one. The party endorsed Benny Gantz for prime minister, before entering the opposition.[citation needed]
In his campaign for the
Organization
The supreme body in the party is the party conference, which convenes every four years. The party members elect party office-holders including the members of the party arbitration panel, the permanent commission, the municipal commission, and the comptroller.
Yisrael Beiteinu runs for local elections under the name of the city that they run in, such as Petah Tikva Beiteinu ("Petah Tikva Our Home").
In September 2019, Eli Avidar announced that the party intends to set up an LGBT caucus after the September 2019 Israeli legislative election.[41]
Platform and policies
The party has been described as occupying the centre-right[42][43][44] to right-wing[45][46] of the political spectrum.
Founding principles
This article is part of a series on |
Conservatism in Israel |
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Yisrael Beiteinu's platform begins with a description of its 10 main principles which it calls its "
- Security policy based on initiative and preemptive action.
- Solution of the conflict through a comprehensive regional agreement and the exchange of territories and populations.
- Without loyalty there is no citizenship – Military or National Service for everyone who reaches the age of 18.
- Death penaltyfor terrorists.
- Adopting the Shamgar Report (which restricts the things the Israeli government can offer as part of a prisoner exchange) as the sole basis for all future prisoner exchange.
- In the case of a dilemma between the unity of the land and the unity of the people, the unity of the people comes first.
- Yes to Judaism – no to religious coercion.
- Support for Zionistideal and concept of security.
- Immigration of Diaspora Jewsas a central national goal.
- A socio-economic ideal in line with Ze'ev Jabotinsky's five basic needs that should be guaranteed by the government: Food, Housing, Clothing, Education and Healthcare.
Relations with Israeli Arabs and Palestinians
One of the party's main policies is that of drawing the borders in such a way that areas with large Arab populations, such as the Triangle area and the Wadi Ara, both gained by Israel as part of the 1949 Armistice Agreements, would be transferred to Arab sovereignty. Known as the Lieberman Plan, such an arrangement would mean that the majority of Jews would live in Israel and the majority of Arabs would live in a future Palestinian state. In most cases, there is no physical population transfer or demolition of houses, but creating a new border where none existed before, according to demographics.[48]
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 55/153, written in 2001, explicitly states: "When part of the territory of a state is transferred by that state to another state, the successor state shall attribute its nationality to the persons concerned who have their habitual residence in the transferred territory and the predecessor state shall withdraw its nationality from such persons", and Lieberman claims that this means Israel can legally transfer territory and citizens as a means of peace and ultimate conflict resolution.[48]
Avigdor Lieberman argues that the Arab residents see themselves not as Israelis, but as Palestinians, and should, therefore, be encouraged to join the Palestinian Authority. Lieberman has presented this proposal as part of a potential peace deal aimed at establishing two separate national entities, one for Jews in Israel and the other for Arabs in Palestine. However, he is known to have an affinity for, and is popular among, the Druze population (the only non-Jewish, Arabic-speaking male population to be fully drafted into the IDF), and has attracted a number of Druze voters, including some in the Golan Heights who voted for the party in protest.[49] Druze candidate Hamad Amar was elected to the Knesset on the party's list in 2009.[50][failed verification]
Yisrael Beiteinu played a crucial role in passing a law that would fine bodies that receive state funding being spent in recognition of Nakba Day, and events that call for the end of Israel as a Jewish State.[51][failed verification][52][failed verification]
Security policy
Yisrael Beiteinu supports a hawkish security policy, emphasizing preemptive strikes against Hamas and other opponents of Israel. Yisrael Beiteinu's security policy, as laid out in the party's platform, is:[47]
- Renewing the discontinued policy of the targeted killing of terror leaders.
- Reducing the amount of tax money collected by Israel given to the Palestinian Authority in proportion to the amount of money given to terrorists sitting in Israeli prisons and their families.
- Ending the transfer of Qatarifunds to Hamas by the Israeli government.
- Death penaltyfor terrorists.
- Ending the policy of returning terrorist corpses to their families.
- Demolishing the houses of all terrorists, not only terrorists who have committed murder.
- Revocation of residency from citizens of East Jerusalem who were convicted of terrorism.
- Deportation of those who systematically incite terrorism from Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
Religion and state
Yisrael Beiteinu's platform states that the party opposes the
Yisrael Beiteinu's policies on Religion and State, as stated by their platform are as follows:[47]
- Compulsory national or military service for all Haredi Jews.
- Permitting city Rabbisto perform conversions. Currently this right is reserved for the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
- The opening of the registration areas for marriage, so that couples can marry in any city and with any Rabbi that they desire.
- The operation of public transportation on Shabbat, in neighborhoods with demand for it and without significant religious population.
- Opposition to the "Supermarket law", which bans the operation of businesses on Shabbat.
- The party opposes DNA tests for Jewish converts or for Jews of Russian descent.
Economic policies
Yisrael Beiteinu favors a broadly economically liberal vision of the economy. Its platform opposes increasing taxes and supports a decrease in regulations and an increase in support to small businesses.[47] Despite this broadly liberal view of the economy, the party supports an increase in spending for healthcare and its flagship economic policy is increasing the minimum pension given to pensioners to 70% of the minimum wage.[53]
Yisrael Beiteinu's solution for Israel's housing crisis is cancelling the tax on the usage of pension funds of young couples who want to buy a home with the money.[54]
Knesset members
Yisrael Beiteinu currently has six Knesset members:
Year | Members | Total |
---|---|---|
2022– | Avigdor Lieberman, Oded Forer, Evgeny Sova, Sharon Nir, Yulia Malinovsky, Hamad Amar | 6 |
Election results
Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1999
|
Avigdor Lieberman | 86,153 | 2.6 (#13) | 4 / 120
|
New | Opposition |
2003 | Part of the National Union | 3 / 120
|
1 | Coalition | ||
2006 | 281,880 | 8.99 (#5) | 11 / 120
|
8 | Coalition | |
2009 | 394,577 | 11.70 (#3) | 15 / 120
|
4 | Coalition | |
2013 | With Likud | 13 / 120
|
2 | Coalition | ||
2015 | 214,906 | 5.11 (#8) | 6 / 120
|
7 | Opposition (2015–2016) | |
Coalition (2016–2018) | ||||||
Opposition (2018–2019) | ||||||
Apr 2019 | 173,004 | 4.01 (#7) | 5 / 120
|
1 | Snap election | |
Sep 2019 | 310,154 | 6.99 (#5) | 8 / 120
|
3 | Snap election | |
2020 | 263,365 | 5.74 (#7) | 7 / 120
|
1 | Opposition | |
2021 | 248,370 | 5.63 (#8) | 7 / 120
|
Coalition | ||
2022 | 213,655 | 4.49 (#7) | 6 / 120
|
1 | Opposition |
References
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conservative Yisrael Beiteinu garnered 7 each
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- ^ Jim Zanotti (1 June 2015). "Israel: Background and U.S. Relations" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. p. 58. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
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- ^ Gottesman, Evan (3 January 2019). "The Decline and Fall of Putin's Favorite Israeli Politician". Haaretz. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
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Lieberman has been trying to turn Yisrael Beiteinu into a party appealing to a more veteran Israeli public, rather than just new immigrants.
- Haviv Rettig Gur (10 February 2009). "Background: Beyond Israel Beiteinu's campaign slogans". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- ^ Staff writer (30 May 2019). "Liberman: Israel going to polls because Netanyahu surrendered to ultra-Orthodox". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
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The investigation against Lieberman and his daughter have been ongoing for years, but suddenly became active again once he left the government last week.
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- Times of Israel. 21 August 2022.
In recent years, however, Liberman has broken away from the right (and some would say, far-right), instead seeking to locate himself on the center-right of the spectrum.
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- ^ a b c d e "אני מאמין - ישראל ביתנו". beytenu (in Hebrew).
- ^ a b Liberman, Avigdor (23 June 2010). "My blueprint for a resolution". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
- ^ Hagai Einav (12 February 2009). "Druze in Golan vote Lieberman out of 'protest'". Ynet. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- ^ "Meet Hamad Amar, Yisrael Beiteinu's Druze candidate". Haaretz. 9 February 2009. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009.
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- ^ Bronner, Ethan; Khaled Abu Aker; Taghreed El-Khodary (1 June 2009). "6 Die as Palestinian Authority Forces Clash With Hamas". The New York Times. p. A4.
- ^ "דרישת ישראל ביתנו: עוד 2.5 מיליארד שקל לקצבאות זקנה". Calcalist (in Hebrew). Calcalist. 29 April 2019.
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External links
- Official website (in Hebrew)
- Official website
- Official website (in Russian)
- Yisrael Beiteinu Knesset website