Hapoel HaMizrachi

Hapoel HaMizrachi הפועל המזרחי‎
Leader	Haim-Moshe Shapira
Founded	1922
Dissolved	1956
Merged into	National Religious Party
Ideology	Religious Zionism Religious workers interests
Alliances	United Religious Front(1949–1951) National Religious Front(1955–1956)
Most MKs	9 (1955–1956)
Fewest MKs	6 (1949–1951)
Election symbol
ו‎
Politics of Israel Political parties Elections

chart of zionist workers parties

Hapoel HaMizrachi(Hebrew:הַפּוֹעֵל הַמִּזְרָחִי,lit.MizrachiWorkers) was apolitical partyandsettlement movementinIsrael.It was one of the predecessors of theNational Religious Partyandthe Jewish Home.

History

Hapoel HaMizrachi was formed inJerusalemin 1922 under the Zionist slogan "Torah va'Avodah" (Torah and Labor), as areligious Zionistorganisation that supported the founding of religiouskibbutzimandmoshavimwhere work was done according toHalakha.Its name came from theMizrachiZionist organisation, and is a Hebrew acronym forReligious Centre(Hebrew: מרכז רוחני,Merkaz Ruhani).

For theelections for the first Knessetthe party ran as party of a joint list called theUnited Religious FrontalongsideMizrachi,Agudat YisraelandPoalei Agudat Yisrael.The group won 16 seats, of which Hapoel HaMizrachi took seven, making it the third largest party in theKnessetafterMapaiandMapam.It was invited to join the coalition government byDavid Ben-Gurionand Hapoel HaMizrachi MKHaim-Moshe Shapirawas madeMinister of Internal Affairs,Minister of HealthandMinister of Immigrationin thefirst government.

The United Religious Front played a major part in bringing down the first government due to it disagreement with Mapai over issues pertaining to education in the new immigrant camps and the religious education system, as well as its demands that the Supply and Rationing Ministry be closed and a businessman appointed as Minister for Trade and Industry. Ben-Gurion resigned on 15 October 1950. When the problems had been solved two weeks later, he formed the second government with the same coalition partners and ministers as previously.

In the1951 electionsthe party ran for the Knesset alone under the title ofTorah and Work – Hapoel HaMizrachi.They won eight seats, making them the fourth largest party. Again they joined the governing coalition, and remained a member through all four governments of the second Knesset. Shapira kept his position as Minister of Internal Affairs and also became Minister of Religions. When the third government collapsed, Shapira lost the Ministry of Internal Affairs and became Minister of Welfare. He regained the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the sixth government.Yosef Burgalso became a minister, heading the Health Ministry in the third government, and the Postal Services Ministry in the fourth, fifth and sixth.

For the1955 electionsthe party joined forces with its ideological twin, Mizrachi, to form theNational Religious Front.The new party won eleven seats (of which Hapoel HaMizrachi held nine), making it the fourth largest, and were again coalition partners in both governments of the third Knesset. In 1956 the union of the two parties was made permanent, and the name changed to theNational Religious Party.

Election results

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Government
1925				6 / 221	New	N/A
1931		WithMizrachi		5 / 71	1	N/A
1944	Haim-Moshe Shapira	18,748	9.45	16 / 173	11	N/A
1949		Part ofUnited Religious Front		7 / 120	9	Coalition
1951		46,347	6.74	8 / 120	2	Coalition
1955		Part ofNational Religious Front		9 / 120	1	Coalition

Knesset members

Knesset (MKs)	Knesset Members
1(1949–1951) (7)	Moshe Unna,Yosef Burg,Eliyahu-Moshe Ganhovsky,Aharon-Ya'akov Greenberg,Zerach Warhaftig,Moshe Kelmer(replaced byEliyahu MazurofAgudat Yisraelon 11 March 1949),Haim-Moshe Shapira
2(1951–1955) (8)	Haim-Moshe Shapira, Moshe Unna,Yitzhak Rafael,Yosef Burg, Zerach Warhaftig, Eliyahu-Moshe Ganhovsky, Moshe Kelmer,Michael Hasani
3(1955–1956) (9)	Moshe Unna, Yosef Burg, Aharon-Ya'akov Greenburg, Zerach Warhaftig,Frija Zoaretz,Michael Hasani, Moshe Kelmer, Yitzhak Rafael, Haim-Moshe Shapira

External links

• Party historyKnesset website