Ahdut HaAvoda
Ahdut HaAvoda אַחְדוּת הַעֲבוֹדָה | |
|---|---|
Logo of Ahdut HaAvoda's third incarnation. | |
| Leader | Yitzhak Tabenkin Yigal Allon |
| Founded | March 1919 (Ahdut HaAvoda) 1944 (Ahdut HaAvoda Movement) 1954 (Ahdut HaAvoda – Poale Zion) |
| Dissolved | 23 January 1968 |
| Split from | Poale Zion (1919) Mapai (1944) Mapam (1954) |
| Merged into | Mapai (5 Jan 1930) Mapam (1948) Labor Party (1968) |
| Newspaper | LaMerhav (Hebrew) Folksblatt (Yiddish) |
| Ideology | Labor Zionism Democratic socialism |
| Political position | Centre-left to left-wing |
| Alliances | Alignment (1965–1968) |
| Most MKs | 10 (1955–1959) |
| Fewest MKs | 4 (1954–1955) |
| Election symbol | |
Ahdut HaAvoda (Hebrew: אַחְדוּת הַעֲבוֹדָה, lit. 'Labor Unity') was the name used by a series of political parties in Israel. The first incarnation of Ahdut HaAvoda was established during the period of British Mandate and led by David Ben-Gurion. In 1930 it merged with rival Hapoel Hatzair to form Mapai, the leading Labor Zionist party that led the creation of the state of Israel.
The second edition of Ahdut HaAvoda was created by Mapai dissenters in 1944, who were dissatisfied with Ben-Gurion's scepticism of the Soviet Union, and the potential idea of territorial compromise. It absorbed Poale Zion Left in 1946, and shortly before the 1948 Palestine war, merged with Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party to create the Marxist-Zionist Mapam.
Former Ahdut HaAvoda members' opinion on the Soviet Union soured, which caused them to leave Mapam and re-establish the party in 1954. For the 1965 elections, it formed a joint slate with Mapai called the Alignment, and in 1968, the Alignment's component parties merged to form the Israeli Labor Party.