Politics of Yisrael
 | This article is incomplete because it is pending further input from participants, or it is a work-in-progress by one author. Please comment on this article's talk page to share your input, comments and questions. Note: To contribute to this article, you may need to seek help from the author(s) of this page. |
Politics in Yisrael are dominated by Zionist political parties on the political right, center, and left, although there are a few non-Zionist political factions represented.
Yisrael is a federal presidential constitutional monarchy, and its politics are reflected at the national level through the Presidency and the Royal Knesset and their elections, including various major and minor political parties, formal and informal political factions and interest groups, the media, and ideologically (and informally) through the Royal courts. On the District and local level, organs of national parties as well as regional and minor local parties and factions predominate the political scene, with a stronger focus on local "bread and butter" issues that may often diverge from national partisan perspectives.
Political climate
Introduction
Among global politics, Yisrael has a strong right-wing political and ideological orientation, influenced by its religious culture, traditional society, political history, and national interests in foreign affairs.
The Royal Constitution codifies Yisrael as a halachic state, meaning the Kingdom is ruled by religious law as elaborated in the Talmud and Code of Jewish Law. Thus, certain ideologies such as atheism and secularism are illegal, and ideologies derived from such thought (communism, socialism, social democracy, etc.) are also by definition banned, as per the 1925 Sanhedrin case Popular Left Front of Yisrael v. Government of Yisrael.
From this, the center of political and religious gravity is center-right-to-right as compared to the Western Belisarian states. Thus, "left" in Yisrael maybe mildly "center-left" in a country such as Arthurista, and "far-right" in Yisrael may be beyond "extreme-right" in Latium, for example.
Political parties, factions, and blocs are formed from a variety of religious, ethnic, ideological, social, and personality-driven concerns and issues, and the widespread ethno-religious self-segregation and political polarization has created a de jure multi-party system but a de facto 2.5 party system where the political right is led by the Conservatives and the political left by the Con-Libs but they are not powerful enough to win outright majorities, and must build coalitions with second-tier minor parties with concentrated and durable political bases.
Party systems
First Party System (1922-1941)
Although ideological factions existed under the late absolute monarchy era (1715-1919), parties did not emerge until the 1920 Constitution in the aftermath of the Constitutional Liberal victory in the 1919 Revolution that ended the absolute monarchy and introduced a constitutional monarchy in its stead.
The constitutionalist and liberal forces behind the new political order quickly organized themselves into the Constitutional Liberal Party while the royalists and conservatives formed the Royalist Conservative Party. For the 1920s and early 1930s, these two parties were the sole political entities contesting elections, although other factions started created their own parties by the mid-1930s.
The disastrous Second West Scipian War with Sydalon and the military coup in its immediate aftermath in 1941 begun the Autocracy regime and one-party rule, and the existing political order collapsed.
Second Party System (1951-1974)
In the aftermath of the fall of the Autocracy in the Year of Blood (1950-51) and the weakening of the monarchy's powers in the 1952 Royal Reform Acts, a restored constitutional order saw the revival of the Conservative-Con-Lib party system, but this time, the liberal and secular forces were ascendant from the 1951 civil war and the Con-Libs ruled consistently throughout this period, with the Royalist Conservatives struggling to challenge them successfully.
The Fourth West Scipian War in the mid-1960s gave the weakened right a chance at political power, and they led the wartime government. However, in the war's conclusion, the Con-Libs and their left-wing minor party allies retook control in the late 1960s.
The five-year meandering peace process to strike the Yarden Accords with Sydalon weakened the left, and the right and far-right made gains in the early 1970s. At the time of its signing in 1974, the Yarden Accords proven too controversial and its backlash broke the center-left political hegemony and empowered the right. Scholars mark 1974 as the end of the post-1951 liberal- and Chiloni-oriented political order.
Third Party System (1974-present)
Political scholars and historians in Yisrael note that current Yisraeli politics are a direct realignment towards the right and towards renewed religiosity in the post-Yarden Yisrael society of the 1970s and 1980s, leading to a succession of two-term Conservative-led governments and a scattering of single-term, very moderate Con-Lib presidencies in the 1990s and 2000s.
The beginning of the 3rd party system saw a plethora of minor political parties be created, but by the late 1980s and early 1990s, the right, left, and center settled in with 1-2 parties each in a stable alignment of first-tier parties (Blues and Golds) and second-tier parties (centrists, leftists, and far-rights).
Zionist orientation
Zionist parties
- Royalist Conservative Party - Neo-Zionism
- Action Yisrael - Revisionist Zionism
- Northern League - Neo-Zionism
- Constitutional Liberal Party - Liberal Zionism
Non-Zionist parties
- Torah Achdus (see Non-Zionist Religious Right)
- Alliance of Greens, Seculars, and Workers - officially "Non-Zionist" but has a faction of Liberal Zionists
Political parties and elections
| Party Name | Coalition | Party leader | Seats in the Knesset | Ideology | Political position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalist Conservative Party | Noah Feldman | 59 / 142 |
National conservatism, National Religious-interests | Right | |
| Action Yisrael | Shaul Frum | 12 / 142 |
Chiloni-interests, Economic liberalism | Center-to-Centre-right | |
| League for New Judea | David Touro | 5 / 142 |
Ultranationalism, Stronger monarchy, Irrendentism, Social conservatism | Far-right | |
| Torah Achdus |
16 / 142 |
Torah Judaism, Social conservatism, Chareidi-interests | Right | ||
| Constitutional Liberal Party | 42 / 142 |
Centrism, Progressivism, Weaker monarchy | Center-to-Center-left | ||
| Alliance of Greens, Seculars, and Workers | 8 / 142 |
Labor-interests, Green liberalism, Traditional-interests | Left |
Recent elections
In the 2018 midterm elections, the center-left and left-wing parties generally saw an across-the-board upsurge against the ruling right-wing Blue-Maroon coalition from the 47th Knesset (2016-18). The Con-Libs flipped multiple swing seats from the Conservatives and Northern League, while themselves losing several urban left-wing seats to the Alliance. The center/center-right Action Yisrael flipped several Conservative and League seats, significantly increasing its political bloc to the largest since the party's creation. The ruling right was forced to make several politically moderate concessions by adding the AY to its coalition to retain a majority. Due to the addition of the Grays to the ruling bloc, the religious bloc ruled out joining the governing coalition but agreed to a supply and confidence agreement in return for a supermajority to pass several constitutional amendments through the Knesset.
| Party | Seats | +/- | National Vote (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalist Conservative Party | 59 |  5
|
34.7 | |
| Action Yisrael | 12 |  5
|
13.4 | |
| League for New Judea | 5 | 6
|
10.8 | |
| Torah Achdus | 16 | 2
|
12.6 | |
| Constitutional Liberal Party | 42 | 3
|
23.9 | |
| Alliance of Greens, Seculars, and Workers | 8 | 5
|
4.9 |