Alignment (Israel)

Alignment המערך‎
Historical leaders	Levi Eshkol (1969) Golda Meir (1969–74) Yitzhak Rabin (1974–77) Shimon Peres (1977–91)
Founded	1965 (first alignment) 1968 (second alignment)
Dissolved	1968 (first alignment) 1991 (second alignment)
Merged into	Labor Party
Ideology	Social democracy[1][2] Labor Zionism[2] Factions: Socialism Liberalism
Political position	Centre-left
International affiliation	Socialist International
Member parties	Labor Party (1968–91) Mapam Ahdut HaAvoda (1965–68) Mapai (1965–68) Progress and Development (1974–76) Arab List for Bedouin and Villagers (1974–77) Ratz (1981–84) Yahad (1984–86) Independent Liberals (1984–91)
Most MKs	63 (1969)
Fewest MKs	31 (1977–1980)
Election symbol
Politics of Israel Political parties Elections

The Alignment (Hebrew: המערך, romanized: HaMa'arakh) 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.

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.