National List - Background

Background

The National List had been formed by Ben-Gurion prior to the 1969 elections after his former party, Rafi, had merged into the Alignment against his wishes.

The new party won four seats in the seventh Knesset, and Ben Gurion was joined in the Knesset by Meir Avizohar, Isser Harel and Yigal Hurvitz. During the session Avizohar defected to the Alignment, leaving the party with three seats. Ben-Gurion resigned from the Knesset in 1970, and was replaced by Zalman Shoval.

Without Ben Gurion's leadership, the party began to disintegrate. Before the 1973 elections it joined the Likud alliance formed by Herut, the Liberal Party (which had formerly been allied as Gahal), Free Centre and the Movement for Greater Israel. The new alliance won 39 seats, with Hurvitz and Shoval being elected to the Knesset on its list. In 1976 the National List merged with the Movement for Greater Israel and the Independent Centre (a breakaway from the Free Centre) to form the La'am faction within Likud, and ceased to exist as an independent entity.

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