Maki (political party)

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Maki
המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית
الحزب الشيوعي الاسرائيلي
LeadershipCentral committee
Notable figures
Founded1 September 1965 (1965-09-01) (as Rakah)
Split fromMaki (original party)
HeadquartersNazareth, Tel Aviv
NewspaperAl-Ittihad
Youth wingAlliance of the Israeli Communist Youth
Ideology
Political positionFar-left
National affiliationHadash
International affiliationIMCWP
ColoursRed
Knesset
2 / 120
Election symbol
ו
Website
maki.org.il

The Israeli Communist Party (Hebrew: הַמִפְלָגָה הַקוֹמוּנִיסְטִית הַיִשְׂרְאֵלִית, romanizedHaMiflaga HaKomunistit HaYisra'elit, Arabic: الحزب الشيوعي الاسرائيلي, romanizedAl-Ḥizb ash-Shuyū'ī al-'Isrā'īlī), commonly referred to by its Hebrew acronym Maki (מק"י‎), is a communist political party in Israel and forms part of the political alliance known as Hadash. It was originally known as Rakah, an acronym for Reshima Komunistit Hadasha ("New Communist List"), and is not the same party as the original Maki, from which it broke away in the 1960s.

History

Original logo of the party when it was named Rakah, or the New Communist List, in 1965
Rakah members in 1969

Rakah was formed on 1 September 1965 due to internal disagreements in Maki. Maki, the original Israeli Communist Party, saw a split between a largely Jewish and Zionist faction led by Moshe Sneh, which was critical of the Soviet Union's increasingly anti-Zionist stance, and a largely Arab faction, which was increasingly anti-Zionist. As a result, the pro-Arab/pro-Soviet faction (including Emile Habibi, Tawfik Toubi and Meir Vilner) left Maki to form a new party, Rakah, which the Soviet Union recognised as the "official" Communist Party. The Eurocommunist faction, led by Sneh, remained in Maki.[3] It was reported in the Soviet media that the Mikunis–Sneh group defected to the bourgeois-nationalist camp.[4]

The 1965 elections saw Rakah party win three seats, comprehensively beating Maki as it slumped to just one. Rakah's opposition to Zionism and the Six-Day War meant they were excluded from the national unity governments of the sixth Knesset. In the 1969 elections Rakah again won three seats. During the 1973 elections Rakah saw a rise in support as the party picked up four seats.

Before the 1977 elections the party joined up with some other marginal left-wing and Arab parties, including some members of the Israeli Black Panthers to form Hadash. Hadash means "new" in Hebrew, a possible reference to Rakah's name; it is also a Hebrew acronym for The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality. In the meantime, the original Maki had disappeared after merging into Ratz in 1981. In 1989, members of Rakah decided to change the party's name to Maki to reflect their status as the only official communist party in Israel.[5] The party remains the leading force in Hadash to this day, and owns the Al-Ittihad newspaper.

Election results

Election Lead Candidate Votes % Position Seats +/– Outcome
1965 Meir Vilner 27,413 2.27 New
3 / 120
Increase 3 opposition
1969 38,827 2.84 Increase 7th
3 / 120
Steady 0 opposition
1973 53,353 3.41 Increase 6th
4 / 120
Increase 1 opposition
1977 with Hadash Increase 5th
4 / 120
Steady 0 opposition
1981 with Hadash Steady 5th
3 / 120
Decrease 1 opposition
1984 with Hadash Steady 5th
3 / 120
Steady 0 opposition
1988 with Hadash Decrease 7th
3 / 120
Steady 0 opposition
1992 Tawfiq Ziad with Hadash Decrease 8th
2 / 120
Decrease 1 support
1996 Ahmad Sa'd with Hadash-Balad Increase 7th
2 / 120
Steady 0 opposition
1999 Mohammad Barakeh with Hadash Decrease 12th
3 / 120
Increase 1 opposition
2003 with Hadash-Ta'al Increase 9th
2 / 120
Decrease 1 opposition
2006 with Hadash Decrease 11th
2 / 120
Steady 0 opposition
2009 with Hadash Increase 9th
3 / 120
Increase 1 opposition
2013 with Hadash Decrease 10th
3 / 120
Steady 0 opposition
2015 Aida Touma-Suleiman with the Joint List Increase 3rd
4 / 120
Increase 1 opposition
April 2019 with Hadash-Ta'al Decrease 5th
3 / 120
Decrease 1 opposition
September 2019 with the Joint List Increase 3rd
4 / 120
Increase 1 opposition
2020 with the Joint List Steady 3rd
4 / 120
Steady 0 opposition
2021 with the Joint List Decrease 10th
2 / 120
Decrease 2 opposition

References

  1. ^ Ilan Lior (16 January 2013). "MK Dov Khenin: Netanyahu government is dangerous for Israel". Haaretz. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  2. ^ Dalia Shehori (13 January 2003). "He'll wage war on globalization and global warming". Haaretz. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  3. ^ Colin Shindler (2013). A History of Modern Israel. Cambridge University Press. p. 182. ISBN 9781107311213.
  4. ^ "Mezhdunarodnaya Zhizn", cited in edition "Välispanoraam 1972", Tallinn, 1973, lk 147 (Foreign Panorama 1972)
  5. ^ New Communist List (Rakach) Knesset website

External links