Likud is a far-right extremist political party in Israel that was founded in 1973. The party was founded by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing parties, including Herut, the Liberal Party of Israel, the Free Center, the National List, and the Movement for Greater Israel. The party won the 1977 elections in a landslide, marking the first time in the country's history that the left had lost power. After ruling the country for most of the 1980s, Likud lost the 1992 Knesset elections, but Benjamin Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister in 1996. His government fell apart due to a vote of no confidence, which led to Likud losing the 1999 elections to Ehud Barak's Israeli Labor Party. In 2001, new Likud leader Ariel Sharon defeated Barak to become the new Prime Minister, but Sharon and the liberal wing of the party split in 2005 to form Kadima. The party slumped to fourth place in the 2006 elections, but it formed a coalition government with Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas in 2009 in order to take control of the government from Kadima.
Likud emphasized national security policy based on a strong military force, and it mostly opposed negotiations with Israel's enemies. Its 1999 party platform emphasized the right of settlement, and Likud claimed that the Jordan River formed the permanent eastern border of the country. The party flatly rejected the idea of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River, opposing an independent and sovereign Palestinian state, but not necessarily self-rule. The party claimed to support free market capitalism and economic liberalism, but it mostly adopted mixed economic policies. Likud generally advocated free enterprise and nationalism, but its support for populist economic programs clashed with its free enterprise stance. On religion and state, Likud held a moderate stance, supporting the preservation of the status quo; Likud was founded as a secular party. However, the party kept with the principles of Revisionist Zionism in advocating a revival of Jewish culture, and the party also supported press freedom, the promotion of private sector media, and secular nationalism.
Gallery[]
