Zionist Union המחנה הציוני | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Isaac Herzog (2014–2017) Tzipi Livni (2014–2019) Avi Gabbay (2017–2019) |
| Founded | 10 December 2014 (2014-12-10) |
| Dissolved | 1 January 2019 (2019-01-01) |
| Headquarters | Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Ideology | Zionism Social democracy Social liberalism Progressivism[1] Green politics Two-state solution Factions: Labor Zionism Liberal Zionism Green Zionism |
| Political position | Centre-left[2] |
| Alliance of | Labor Party Hatnuah Green Movement |
| Colours | Blue, white, red |
| Election symbol | |
| אמת | |
| Website | |
| hamahanehazioni.co.il | |
TheZionist Union (Hebrew:הַמַחֲנֶה הַצִיּוֹנִי,romanized: HaMaḥaneh HaẒiyoni,lit. 'theZionist Camp') was acentre-leftpolitical alliance in Israel. It was established in December 2014 by theIsraeli Labor Party andHatnuah to create a joint electoral list to contest the2015 elections with the hope of unseatingPrime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu. It failed to do so but did come in second place with 24 seats in theKnesset, forming the official opposition. However, tension between the Union's competing factions resulted in its dissolution in early January 2019, ahead ofthat year's April election.[3]
The Labor Party and Hatnuah agreed on 10 December 2014 to form a joint ticket.[4] The list was established to create a large electoral list for the centre-left bloc, in the hope that it will lead the34th government. Hatnuah leaderTzipi Livni has said that other parties will also be part of the alliance.[5] Livni and Labor leaderIsaac Herzog initially said that if the alliance were to win enough seats to lead the next government, they would rotate in the post of Prime Minister, with Herzog serving for the first half of the Knesset's four-year term and Livni for the second half,[6] though Livni announced on 16 March 2015 that only Herzog would serve as prime minister.[7]
Manuel Trajtenberg, number 11 on the list, was the list's candidate for thefinance minister.Amos Yadlin was the list's candidate for thedefense minister, though he was not a candidate for the Knesset.[8] TheGreen Movement also had representation on the list through the addition ofYael Cohen Paran, selected by Livni, on a spot (No. 25) reserved for Hatnuah members.[9]
| Name | Ideology | Position | Leader | 20th Knesset | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Social democracy | Centre-left | Isaac Herzog Avi Gabbay | 18 / 120 | |
| Hatnua | Liberalism | Centre tocentre-left | Tzipi Livni | 5 / 120 | |
| Green Movement | Green politics | Centre-left toleft-wing | Yael Cohen Paran | 1 / 120 | |
Key issues for the Zionist Union included the following:[10][11][12][13][14]
In addition, the Zionist Union is in favor of the following:
The following are the candidates elected to the 20th Knesset from the Zionist Union's party list.[20]
| Election year | Leader | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | # of overall seats won | +/– | Government/Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Isaac Herzog Tzipi Livni | 786,313 (#2) | 18.7 | 24 / 120 | New party | opposition |
After theelection, the Zionist Union emerged as the second-largest party in the Knesset, with 24 seats. It triumphed inTel Aviv and its prosperous suburbs, as well as other liberal areas.[21][22] Its success was mostly in affluent areas, and it won the highest number of votes in 28 of Israel's 33 wealthiest communities.[23]
(in Hebrew)