Centre Party (Israel)
|
Centre Party
מפלגת המרכז |
|
|---|---|
| Leader |
Yitzhak Mordechai Dan Meridor David Magen |
| Founded | 23 February 1999 |
| Dissolved | 2003 |
| Split from | Likud-Gesher-Tzomet and Labor Party |
| Ideology | Centrism |
| Political position | Center |
| Most MKs | 6 (1999–2001) |
| Fewest MKs | 3 (2002–2003) |
| Election symbol | |
| פה | |
The Centre Party (Hebrew: מִפְלֶגֶת הַמֶרְכָּז, translit. Mifleget Hamerkaz), originally known as Israel in the Centre, was a short-lived political party in Israel. Formed in 1999 by former Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai, the aim was to create a group of moderates to challenge both Binyamin Netanyahu on the right and opposition leader Ehud Barak's Labour Party on the left.
The party was established on 23 February 1999, towards the end of the 14th Knesset's term, by Mordechai, David Magen and Dan Meridor from Likud, Hagai Meirom and Nissim Zvili of Labour, and Eliezer Sandberg of Tzomet. However, the most significant ally Mordechai had made was General Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, the just-retired army Chief-of-Staff who had been his most bitter rival for that post in 1994.
It borrowed many of its themes from The Third Way, a group that split with the Labour Party in 1994 over the latter's willingness to negotiate the return of the Golan Heights to Syria for a peace treaty. However, by 1999 The Third Way was a partner of the Likud government and had lost much of its public credit due to its small influence on Netanyahu. Mordechai, who was less hawkish than Netanyahu, wanted further progress in the Oslo Accords, and clashed with the prime minister and other members of his cabinet. Though few of the new party's positions were original, it was considered impossible for Mordechai to break with the Likud in any other way, as joining the Labour Party would mean taking the passenger seat to Ehud Barak, who was far more hated by Mordechai than Netanyahu.
...
Wikipedia