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Co‐operation in the shadow of a power struggle: Israel: the Likud governments and the Histadrut 1977–84

1995; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 31; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00263209508701083

1743-7881

Shmuel Tzabag,

Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies

Four-and-a-half decades after Israel's establishment in 1948, the year 1977 continues to constitute a landmark insofar as relations between the government and the Histadrut, the roof organization of trade unions in Israel, are concerned. In the elections held in that year, after 29 years during which the Labor Movement of Israel (in the form of Mapai or the Alignment) was in power, control of the government was won by the Likud Party. The Histadrut is unique among workers organizations in the western world. Whereas in all other countries the establishment of the country preceded the foundation of its trade unions, which then had to struggle for generations to become effectively organized, in Israel the process was the reverse. Not only was it established 28 years prior to the country's independence, but workers parties existed even before the foundation of the Histadrut which was, essentially, the creative product of the incipient country's political parties. Moreover, the Histadrut was an ideological movement and trade union with the additional ideal of actually moulding and building up a homeland. Strangely enough, with the establishment of Israel in 1948, and with full sovereignty, the Histadrut began to decline. It ceased to be the focal point of social, economic, security and political activities, as it had been prior to independence. Many of its important functions, such as the labour exchange, education and social benefits, were taken over almost completely by national bodies, while the entire matter of foreign relations and military security were completely removed from its agenda. Between 1948 and 1977 the Histadrut dealt with governments whose political stances were derived from the same ideological stream, that of the labour movement. During the next seven years, with which this article deals, the Histadrut had to contend with a government based on the very different, antithetical, ideological principles of the Likud, and the essence of the relations between these two centers of power underwent a gradual change. This period was relatively shortlived, ending in 1984 with the establishment of a National Unity Government partnered by the Likud and