Political Transformation

Fear and Temptation

In the wake of victory

Defining Israel

• The “Land of Israel”– Biblical claims, united people, ideological

goals

• The “state of Israel”– Pragmatic historical claims, diverse people,

“economic” goals

Labor roots of settlement

• 1967-73 : Nahal settlements in Sinai and West Bank

• 1972: Knesset reaffirms “historic right” of the Jewish people over the Land of Israel

• Moshe Dayan insists on private landownership in the W Bank

• A generation of leaders committed to settlement in the 1930s

Shifting Israeli politics

• 1973 war undermined the claims the Labour could keep Israel safe

• The Labour party was still in the grip of its early, Askenazi leaders

• The Israeli electorate now included mizrahim excluded from Labour

• The Likud, under Menahem Begin, sought to be a voice for mizrahim

Menahem Begin in Soviet secret police archives

Begin and Sadat in Jerusalem

Economic crisis

• Massive growth in defense costs

• Inflation rates of 30-40% in early 1970s

• Budget deficit of $3 billion

• Revelations that Yitzhak Rabin had kept a “secret” bank account in dollars in the US

• And one political issue: Rabin-Peres rivalry

Victory for the Likud

• Rabin forced 1977 elections hoping to rid himself of religious partners

• Massive Mizrahi shift to right-wing parties• With 43 seats to Labour 32, Likud and

Begin emerged as the new Knesset core• Joined by NRP, Agudath Israel and

independent• And by Movement for Democratic Change

which gave up demand for constituencies

Parliamentary power

• Begin was in a position to exclude his old nemesis, the Labour party.

• In the Israeli Knesset there is no necessary advantage to a Grand Coalition

• The search for a majority gives significant power to small parties

• A general consensus exists not to rely on Arab votes or Arab parties

Defeat for Labour

• Losing seats to Likud

• Israeli Arabs turn to Rakah (Communists)

• Intense conflict within Labour– Sharon and Dayan defect– Peres and Rabin at odds

Rabin in Palmach

Dayan as Foreign Minister

• Weighing Sharm al-Shaykh vs. peace

• Supported withdrawal from Suez after 1967

• Proposed to Begin Israeli withdrawal from 2/3 of Sinai for Egyptian non-belligerence

• Begin did not see Sinai as part of the Land of Israel

Romanian and Moroccan connections

• Romania’s dictator, Ceausescu arranged for Begin to meet Sayyid Marei in August 1977

• Israeli draft treaty with Egypt sent to Egypt by US

• Morocco arranges for Dayan to meet Egyptian Deputy PM in September 1977

November 9 1977

• Sadat offers to go to Jerusalem

• Speaking to the National Assembly

• Yasser Arafat is in the audience

November 19, 1977

• Sadat arrives in Jerusalem

• Addresses the Knesset

• Prays at the Aqsa Mosque

• Reassures Israelis

• Returns to tumultuous reception in Cairo

Basic outlines of the deal

• Return of all of Sinai to Egypt– Includes Yamit– Restoration of full sovereignty (i.e. troops can be

stationed there)

• Egyptian state of non-belligerency or peace– Egypt ends privileged strategic connection to Arab

states– Tacitly agrees to allow Israel to pursue its own

policies in remains of Mandatory Palestine

Not conservatives

• Begin fails– No privatization, few tax cuts, no wage freeze

• Begin succeeds– Guarantees for housing, extends tuition-free

education to high school, “Project Renewal”

• Begin continues