Movement for Civil Rights and Peace התנועה לזכויות האזרח ולשלום | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Shulamit Aloni Yossi Sarid Gabi Deus (de jure) |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Dissolved | 1997 (de facto) |
| Split from | Alignment |
| Merged into | Meretz |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Left-wing[7] |
| Most MKs | 6 (1992) |
| Election symbol | |
| רצ | |
| Part ofa series on |
| Socialism in Israel |
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Historical parties |
Ratz (Hebrew:רָצ), officially theMovement for Civil Rights and Peace (Hebrew:הַתְּנוּעָה לִזְכוּיוֹת הָאֶזְרָח וְלַשָּׁלוֹם,HaTnua'a LeZkhuyot HaEzrah VeLaShalom) was aleft-wingpolitical party in Israel that focused onhuman rights,civil rights andwomen's rights.[8][9][10] It was active from 1973 until its formal merger intoMeretz in 1997. However, it remains a registered political party.
The Movement for Civil Rights and Peace was formed in 1973 byShulamit Aloni, a former MK for theAlignment, 48 hours after she had left the party. As a member of theIsraeli peace camp it opposed the occupation of theWest Bank andGaza Strip and called for a peace settlement with thePalestine Liberation Organization from its birth. The party advocatedsecularism, the separation ofreligion and state, andcivil rights, most notably women's rights, a topic that was very close to Aloni. It was also a notable fighter against corruption and for a writtenconstitution, and Aloni was the initiator of the Knesset sub-committee forbasic laws (Israel's equivalent of a constitution). For a while it also supported electoral reform.
In its first test, the1973 elections, the party received 2% of the vote and won three seats in theKnesset, which were taken by Aloni, new American immigrantMarcia Freedman, andBoaz Moav. The party soon gained the popular name Ratz, as it used the lettersResh-Tzadik on the election ballot paper. FollowingGolda Meir's resignation, the party joinedYitzhak Rabin's government and Aloni served as aminister without portfolio. This was one of the few periods in Israel's political history when no religious parties were part of the coalition. The arrangement lasted for a few months only and when theNational Religious Party joined the coalition, Ratz left it.
In 1975 the party merged withAryeh Eliav, an independent MK who had broken away from the Alignment, to form a new party,Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement. However, it broke up the following year, and Aloni and Moaz reformed Ratz. Freedman did not return, instead forming theSocial-Democratic Faction (later renamed the Independent Socialist Faction) with Eliav, and then breaking away again to form theWomen's Party prior to the1977 elections. Also prior to the 1977 elections, the Independent Socialist Faction merged with several other small left-wing parties (Moked,Meri and theBlack Panthers) to form theLeft Camp of Israel.
Ratz performed poorly in the 1977 elections, winning only one seat, which Aloni took. The1981 elections were a repeat, with only Aloni representing the party in the Knesset. During the Knesset session she merged the party into the Alignment, but then broke away again before the term ended.
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Before the1984 elections theLeft Camp of Israel merged into Ratz in a one-to-three ratio, bringing with themRan Cohen among others. The elections were an improvement on the previous two, and saw the party win three seats. During the Knesset session, the party gained another two seats whenYossi Sarid andMordechai Virshubski joined, defecting from the Alignment andShinui respectively. The party retained its five-seat strength in the1988 elections.
Prior to the1992 elections the party formed an alliance withMapam andShinui namedMeretz, whilst keeping their independent status within the union. The new party was a success, winning 12 seats, two more than the parties had held in the previous Knesset. Prior to the1996 elections, Aloni finally lost the leadership of the party, defeated by Sarid in internal elections. She retired from politics immediately. In 1997 the merger was made official (though several Shinui members led byAvraham Poraz broke away to reform as an independent party, whilstDavid Zucker became an independent MK), and Ratz effectively ceased to exist. However, it remained a registered political party and submitted financial reports to the Party Registrar in 2010 and 2013.
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Shulamit Aloni | 35,023 | 2.2 | 3 / 120 | New | Opposition (1973–1974) |
| Government (1974) | ||||||
| Opposition (1974-1977) | ||||||
| 1977 | 20,621 | 1.2 | 1 / 120 |  2 | Opposition | |
| 1981 | 27,921 | 1.4 | 1 / 120 |  | Opposition | |
| 1984 | 49,698 | 2.4 | 3 / 120 |  2 | Opposition | |
| 1988 | 97,513 | 4.3 | 5 / 120 | 2 | Opposition | |
| 1992 | Part ofMeretz | 6 / 120 | 1 | Government | ||
| 1996 | Yossi Sarid | 4 / 120 | 2 | Opposition | ||
| Knesset (MKs) | Knesset Members |
|---|---|
| 8th (3−1) | Shulamit Aloni,Boaz Moav −Marcia Freedman (to theSocial-Democratic Faction) |
| 9th (1) | Shulamit Aloni |
| 10th (1) | Shulamit Aloni |
| 11th (3+2) | Shulamit Aloni,Mordechai Bar-On (replaced byDavid Zucker),Ran Cohen +Yossi Sarid (from theAlignment) +Mordechai Virshubski (fromShinui) |
| 12th (5) | Shulamit Aloni, Ran Cohen, Yossi Sarid, Mordechai Virshubski, David Zucker |
| 13th (6 out of 12) | Shulamit Aloni, Ran Cohen, David Zucker, Yossi Sarid,Naomi Chazan,Binyamin Temkin |
| 14th (4 out of 9) | Yossi Sarid, Ran Cohen, David Zucker, Naomi Chazan |
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT (Rotz). This radical, dovish, and anticlerical party was founded in 1973 by Shulamit Aloni, a noted civil rights activist, who failed to win renomination on the Labor Party* ticket.
In terms of social and economic policy, Labor is a social democratic party; Mapam, the old socialist left; CRM is an Israeli-style Green party; and Shinui is what Terry Clark has described as Neo-Populist—fiscally conservative and liberal on life-style issues.
Hatnua Lezlmiot Haezrah (the Civil Rights Movement, or CRM) is primarily interested in protecting the secular character of the State of Israel and the civil rights of its citizens. The CRM advocates a liberal economic policy and a dovish stand in the Israeli-Arab conflict.
