Moledet


 

Moledet

founded in 1988

Moledet (Homeland) was a far-right wing party established by Rehav'am Ze'evi ("Gandhi") prior to the 1988 elections. This party believed that peace between Israel and the Arab states would be achieved only though separation of the two nations. The way to accomplish this, according to Moledet's platform, was through population exchanges, i.e., the transfer of the Arab population from Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip to Arab states. This idea of “transfer” became the principal identifying feature of the party.

Moledet ran independently between 1988 and 1996. From the 1999 elections Moledet ran as part of the National Union (HaIhud HaLe'umi), which included other right-wing parties as well. 

table
Election Year Votes Count Number Of Seats Share Of Votes List Of Candidates Platform
1996 72,002 2 2.4 Candidates Candidates
1992 62,269 3 2.4 Candidates Candidates
1988 44,174 2 1.9 Candidates Candidates

Note that the candidates in this table are in Hebrew

Rehav'am Ze’evi ("Gandhi"), Benny Elon

Moledet entered the government for the first time in early 1991, with the appointment of Ze’evi as a Minister without Portfolio in Yitzhak Shamir’s government. The party returned to the government 10 years later, as part of Ariel Sharon’s first government, and received the tourism portfolio, which was held by Ze’evi until his assassination in 2001, and was subsequently held by Benny Elon. Elon continued to serve as Minister of Tourism in the next government as well, until Prime Minister Sharon fired him due to his opposition to the disengagement from Gaza.