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Meimad מימד | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Yehuda Amital Michael Melchior |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Ideology | Religious Zionism Social democracy Two-state solution |
| Political position | Centre-left[1] |
| Religion | Orthodox Judaism[2] |
| Most MKs | 2 (1999, 2001) |
| Election symbol | |
| מי | |
| Website | |
| english.meimad.org.il | |
Meimad (Hebrew:מימד, an acronym forMedina Yehudit, Medina Demokratit (מדינה יהודית, מדינה דמוקרטית), lit.,Jewish State, Democratic State)[3] is amoderate toleft-wingreligious Zionistpolitical party inIsrael.[4][5][6] Founded in 1999, it is based on the ideology of the Meimad movement founded in 1988 by RabbiYehuda Amital. It was formed byreligious Zionists who supported the peace process and believed theNational Religious Party had drifted too far to the right.[7][8]
At the national level, it was in alliance with theLabor Party, and until the2006 election, received the 10th spot on the LaborKnesset list. Meimad ended the pact with the2009 election, formed an alliance with theGreen Movement, and failed to win enough votes to be elected to the Knesset.[citation needed]
The Meimad movement was founded on 1 June 1988 by RabbiYehuda Amital,[9] and included formerNational Religious Party Knesset memberYehuda Ben-Meir. It emerged fromOz ve Shalom (Strength and Peace), an Orthodox Jewish peace movement.[4] It contested the1988 Knesset elections, receiving 0.7% of the vote and failing to cross the 1%electoral threshold. Following theassassination of Prime MinisterYitzhak Rabin in 1995, his successor,Shimon Peres, invited Rabbi Amital to serve as aMinister without Portfolio. He held this position until 1996.[10]
Eleven years later, a political party for the movement was established, and joined theOne Israel alliance that won theKnesset elections that year.[5] Meimad received one seat, taken byMichael Melchior. It gained a second whenYehuda Gilad replacedMaxim Levy in 2002.Tova Ilan also represented Meimad in the Knesset for a brief spell in 2006, after several other Labor MKs resigned. It attracted moderates among immigrants from the English-speaking world, includingShimon Glick.[11]
In November 2008, minister and former Labor Party memberAmi Ayalon joined Meimad.[12] In the same month, the party ended its alliance with Labor after being told that 10th spot on the list would no longer be reserved for Meimad for the2009 legislative elections.[citation needed]
Shortly afterwards, Ayalon announced his resignation from politics,[13] and the party formed an umbrella alliance withthe Green Movement.[14]
In 2012, Melchior announced that he would not stand for election.[15] The party was revived in 2018.[9]
The party emphasizes the values of manysocial democratic parties, except on religious issues. Meimad, like Labor, takes a centre-left approach to theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict.[16] However, it supportsreligious studies in the main curriculum of Israel's public schools, and encourages the use ofrabbinical courts in addition to civil courts.
Under Melchior, the party has taken an even more left-leaning approach—both in foreign and, especially, in domestic affairs. The party has run in municipal elections in 2003, winning a number of key seats inTel Aviv. It also ran together withMeretz party inHaifa in which it shares a seat under a rotation agreement. Shlomo Yaakov Rapaport serves on the Haifa city council representing Meimad, and is the chairman of the Haifa Aliyah and absorption committee, and the chairman of the municipal committee against alcohol and drug abuse.[citation needed]
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Yehuda Amital | 15,783 | 0.69 (#17) | 0 / 120 | New | Extraparliamentary |
| 1992 | Did not contest | Extraparliamentary | ||||
| 1996 | Extraparliamentary | |||||
| 1999 | Michael Melchior | Part ofOne Israel | 1 / 120 |  1 | Coalition | |
| 2003 | WithLabor | 1 / 120 |  1 | Opposition(2003–2005) | ||
| Coalition(2005) | ||||||
| Opposition(2005–2006) | ||||||
| 2006 | 1 / 120 |  | Coalition | |||
| 2009 | With theGreen Movement | 0 / 120 | 1 | Extraparliamentary | ||
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)What Meimad offers them that other left-wing parties do not, [Melchior] adds, is a platform that "addresses issues from a Jewish perspective."
| International | |
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| National | |
