Dash
Dash
Founded in 1976
Dash (The Democratic Movement for Change) was founded in 1976 in the midst of the crisis in Israeli society that followed the Yom Kippur War. At that time, many members of the middle class, upper middle class, and upper classes were hoping for a new political organization, since they wanted to punish the Labor Alignment (Ma'arach) for its failures, but were afraid of entrusting the Likud with the leadership. Following a great deal of pressure, Yigal Yadin, a former Chief of Staff of the IDF and a well-known personality with a sterling reputation for honesty and integrity, agreed to enter politics after having refused to do so for many years. In November 1976, a group of former military figures, academics, and economists came together under Yadin's leadership and founded the Democratic Movement. Within two weeks, the movement united with the Shinui ("Change") Movement under the leadership of Amnon Rubinstein, and the party's name was changed to the acronym "Dash." Several other public figures joined the new party, both from the right (Shmuel Tamir) and from the left (Meir Amit).
Dash defined itself as a centrist, secular party that aspired to serve as the tipping point in the elections for the Ninth Knesset in 1977. It received 15 seats in the elections, becoming the third largest party in the Knesset. Most of its supporters were people who had been disappointed by the Labor Alignment; in this respect, Dash played a major part in the historic revolution in which the rule of the left came to an end and the Likud took over as the ruling party. Despite its electoral success, however, Dash failed to reach its objective of serving as the deciding factor in the election. Since Menachem Begin of the Likud could have formed a government even without Dash, the party was divided on the question of whether or not to join the government. This dispute continued even after the decision was made to join the government.
In the summer of 1978, Dash split back into its two original components: The Democratic Movement (which dissolved soon after) and Shinui.
| Election Year | Votes Count | Number Of Seats | Share Of Votes | List Of Candidates | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 202,265 | 15 | 11.6 |
Candidates
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Platform
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Note that most of the information is in Hebrew. The list of candidates and platform PDF for 2013 are in English.
Yigael Yadin, Meir Amit, Amnon Rubinstein, Shmuel Tamir
Dash entered the Begin government four months into the government's term and four of its members were appointed to the cabinet: Yigael Yadin was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, Meir Amit received the Transportation and Communications portfolios, Shmuel Tamir received the Justice portfolio, and Yisrael Katz was appointed Minister of Labor and Welfare.