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Shinui

Shinui
שינוי
Leader Ron Levintal
Tommy Lapid
Avraham Poraz
Amnon Rubinstein
Founded 1974 (1974)
Split from Democratic Movement for Change
Ideology Liberalism
Economic liberalism
Civil libertarianism
Secularism
Anti-clericalism
Liberal Zionism
Political position Center-left (pre-1999)
Center (1999–)
Knesset
0 / 120
Most MKs 15 (2003)
Election symbol
הן,יש
Website
www.shinui.org.il (currently inaccessible)

Shinui (Hebrew: שִׁינּוּי‎, lit. Change) is a Zionist, secular and anti-clerical free market liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a split and collapse; in 1977 the party won 15 seats as part of the Democratic Movement for Change, but the alliance split in 1978 and Shinui was reduced to two seats at the next elections. In 2003 the party won 15 seats alone, but lost them all three years later after most of its MKs left to form new parties. The party was a member of Liberal International until 2009.

Though it had been the standard-bearer of liberal economic policy and secular values in Israel for 30 years, the formation of Kadima robbed Shinui of its natural constituency, and in January 2006 the party split into small factions, none of which managed to overcome the 2% threshold needed to enter the Knesset.

As Israel made its transition from a developing nation into an economically prosperous one, a highly educated middle class emerged, tracing its historical political orientation to Labor Zionism. Many of these Israelis banded together to form Shinui.

Shinui was established by business people and academics in 1974, following the 1973 Arab–Israeli Yom Kippur War, which shook the Israeli public. Prior to the 1977 elections it formed an alliance with several other small liberal parties. Initially the party was called Democrats-Shinui, but was soon changed to the Democratic Movement for Change and, as with many parties in Israel, became popularly known by its acronym, Dash. The new party caught the public's imagination, with over 37,000 people signing up as members within a few weeks of its foundation. It also pioneered the use of primaries to choose its electoral list, something that was intended to show its democratic credentials and prevent cronyism. Previously in Israel, party lists had been decided upon by the parties' committees, but since the late 1970s, almost every party in Israel (with the exception of the Ultra-orthodox ones, Shas and United Torah Judaism) has followed Dash's lead and adopted the primaries system.


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