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The Mahapach and Yitzhak Shamir's Quiet Revolution: Mizrahim and the Herut Movement

2014; Berghahn Books; Volume: 29; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3167/isr.2014.290103

2159-0389

Uri Cohen, Nissim Leon,

Turkey's Politics and Society

In this article we assert that it was Yitzhak Shamir who created new possibilities for mobility within the Herut party, laying the foundation for the Mahapach (electoral upheaval) of 1977. The contrast between Shamir, who avoided the limelight, and Menachem Begin, who was comfortable with the masses, has left Shamir on the sidelines of the research, debate, and discourse on the Herut and Likud parties. Rather than taking the usual approach of focusing on Begin, we highlight Shamir's role in devising and consolidating the new model for the division of power within Herut, making possible the involvement of political forces that had previously been inactive in the party's institutions. Shamir's approach toward integration, which benefited mainly Mizrahim, allowed Herut to remake itself internally. It was this reworked infrastructure, we believe, that brought about the dramatic electoral results of May 1977.