The Israeli Labor Party, commonly known as HaAvoda, is a social democratic and Labor Zionist political party in Israel. The party was established in 1968 by a merger of Mapai, Ahdut HaAvoda and Rafi. Until 1977, all Israeli prime ministers were affiliated with the Labor movement. The current party leader is Merav Michaeli, who was elected in January 2021.
Israeli Labor Party ballot slip – "Emet"
Image: Portrait of prime minister Levy Eshkol. August 1963. D699 070
Image: Golda Meir 03265u
Image: Flickr Israel Defense Forces Life of Lt. Gen. Yitzhak Rabin, 7th IDF Chief of Staff in photos (11)
Labor Zionism or socialist Zionism refers to the left-wing, socialist variation of Zionism. For many years, it was the most significant tendency among Zionists and Zionist organizations, and was seen as the Zionist sector of the historic Jewish labour movements of Eastern Europe and Central Europe, eventually developing local units in most countries with sizable Jewish populations. Unlike the "political Zionist" tendency founded by Theodor Herzl and advocated by Chaim Weizmann, Labor Zionists did not believe that a Jewish state would be created by simply appealing to the international community or to powerful nations such as the United Kingdom, Germany, or the former Ottoman Empire. Rather, they believed that a Jewish state could only be created through the efforts of the Jewish working class making aliyah to the Land of Israel and raising a country through the creation of a Labor Jewish society with rural kibbutzim and moshavim, and an urban Jewish Proletariat.
HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed march in the May Day parade in Tel Aviv, 2011. 90 years of the Histadrut.