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Maki (political party)

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Israeli Communist Party
המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית
الحزب الشيوعي الاسرائيلي
LeadershipCentral committee
Founder
Founded1 September 1965 (1965-09-01)
Split fromMaki
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, commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Maki (Hebrew: מק״י), is a far-left communist political party in Israel that forms part of the political alliance known as Hadash. It was originally known as Rakah (רק"ח), an acronym for Reshima Komunistit Hadasha ("New Communist List"), after breaking away from the original Maki in the 1960s.

History

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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, the original Israeli Communist Party, which was split between a largely Jewish and Zionist faction led by Moshe Sneh that was critical of the Soviet Union's anti-Zionist stance, and a largely Arab faction that 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. Shlomo Sand and Mahmoud Darwish were also Rakah activists.[2]

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 Israeli legislative election 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 that they were excluded from the national unity governments of the sixth Knesset. In the 1969 Israeli legislative election Rakah again won three seats. During the 1973 Israeli legislative election Rakah saw a rise in support as the party picked up four seats.

Before the 1977 elections the party joined with some other small left-wing and Arab parties, including some members of the Israeli Black Panthers to form Hadash. After the original Maki had disappeared after merging into Ratz in 1981, members of Rakah decided to change the party's name to Maki in 1989.[5] The party remains the leading force in Hadash, and owns the Al-Ittihad newspaper.

Election results

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Election Lead candidate Votes % Position Seats +/– Status
1965 Meir Vilner 27,413 2.27 New
3 / 120
Increase 3 opposition
1969 38,827 2.84 Increase 7th
3 / 120
Steady opposition
1973 53,353 3.41 Increase 6th
4 / 120
Increase 1 opposition
1977 Part of Hadash Increase 5th
4 / 120
Steady opposition
1981 Steady 5th
3 / 120
Decrease 1 opposition
1984 Steady 5th
3 / 120
Steady opposition
1988 Decrease 7th
3 / 120
Steady opposition
1992 Tawfiq Ziad Decrease 8th
2 / 120
Decrease 1 support
1996 Ahmad Sa'd Part of HadashBalad Increase 7th
2 / 120
Steady opposition
1999 Mohammad Barakeh Part of Hadash Decrease 12th
3 / 120
Increase 1 opposition
2003 Part of Hadash–Ta'al Increase 9th
2 / 120
Decrease 1 opposition
2006 Part of Hadash Decrease 11th
2 / 120
Steady opposition
2009 Increase 9th
3 / 120
Increase 1 opposition
2013 Decrease 10th
3 / 120
Steady opposition
2015 Aida Touma-Suleiman Part of the Joint List Increase 3rd
4 / 120
Increase 1 opposition
April 2019 Part of Hadash–Ta'al Decrease 5th
3 / 120
Decrease 1 opposition
September 2019 Part of the Joint List Increase 3rd
4 / 120
Increase 1 opposition
2020 Steady 3rd
4 / 120
Steady opposition
2021 Decrease 10th
2 / 120
Decrease 2 opposition
2022 Part of Hadash–Ta'al Decrease 12th
2 / 120
Steady opposition

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Ilan Lior (16 January 2013). "MK Dov Khenin: Netanyahu government is dangerous for Israel". Haaretz. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  2. ^ Bartal, Shaul (1 January 2015). "Shlomo Sand, The Arabs' Darling". Middle East Quarterly.
  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
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