Word: likud
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This situation is a product of the ambiguous results of the Israeli national elections held last December 31. The Israeli voters swung decidedly to the right, raising the representation in the Parliament of Likud, the nationalist party, from 32 to 39 seats. This was clearly a reaction to the government's failure to anticipate the Arab attack, and since Likud and its leader Menachem Begin have traditionally been the only major opposition voices in the Israeli government, it can be interpreted in part as a registration of no-confidence in the Meir government. But it was also an expression...
Although the right wing fared better than ever before, it still did not approach the 61 seat total necessary for a majority in the Parliment. And while Meir's Labor alignment lost 8 seats, reducing its number to 50, it remained in far better shape than Likud. This was a serious blow to Begin, since if an election was ever promising for his party, this was it. His failure to make a stronger showing indicates that while many Israelis may want a harder line, they do not want him as Prime Minister. Only a change in the leadership of Likud...
...misinform the Harvard community about popular sentiments in Israel. His views represent neither the majority view in Israel, nor the views of the average Labour voter, but merely the hopes of those on the far left. He claims that the shift of six or so seats from Labour to Likud in the last election is "due to Golda's continuation as Labour's No. 1 rather than because the Israeli voter has shifted in any respects to the Right." This shows a complete misunderstanding of the situation...
...weeks before the election Israelis were well aware that the dovish wing of the Labour party wanted to expel Dayan and Golda after the election. This disturbed many Israelis, and the subsequent gain in Likud's strength made such a move out of the question. Nevertheless, Mr. Harlap predicts the expulsion of Dayan in a few months. If Dayan is forced to leave the labour coalition, he will be followed by the other 10 members of the Rafi faction. Mr. Harlap does not realize that the major change in the Eighth Knesset, as Manachim Begin put it, is that "there...
Thus the votes for Likud strengthened Golda and Dayan in the Labour party, because the doves now need the seats Dayan controls in order to stay in power. Mr. Harlap is technically correct in denying a large shift to the right since Likud didn't get enough seats to form a government. The significance of the rise in Likud's strength, however, is the preclusion of the possibility of a shift to the left at the expense of Dayan and Golda. Michael Segal