Alignment (Israel)

The Alignment (Hebrew: המערך, romanized: HaMa'arakh, Arabic: التجمع, romanized: Al-Tajammu) was the name of two political alliances in Israel, both of which ended their existence by merging, in January 1968 and October 1991, into the Israeli Labor Party. The first Alignment was a 1965 alliance of Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda. The two parties continued to exist independently, but submitted joint electoral lists. Often called the Labor Alignment, the alliance lasted three years until a merger with Rafi in 1968 created the unitary Israeli Labor Party. The following year the Labor Party formed an alliance with Mapam, readopting the Alignment name. The two constituent parties remained separate, but with combined electoral campaigns and candidate lists. The second version of the Alignment lasted for more than two decades. In the late 1980s, the junior partners left the Alignment's fold, and in 1991, the alliance was dissolved, allowing the Labor Party could run in its own name. At its formation in 1969, the second Alignment had 63 of 120 Knesset seats, the only time a parliamentary group in Israel has ever held a parliamentary majority. Although its majority was lost in the 1969 election, the 56 seats won by the Alignment remains the highest seat total won in an Israeli election.