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Herut (Hebrew: חרות, Freedom) was the major right-wing political party in Israel from the 1940s until its formal merger into Likud in 1988, and an adherent to Revisionist Zionism. Herut was founded by Menachem Begin in 1948 as the political successor to the Irgun, a paramilitary group in Mandate Palestine. The party's foundation was a challenge to the old and increasingly weakened Hatzohar party founded by Begin's late mentor, Ze'ev Jabotinsky. Nevertheless, Revisionist "purists" alleged that Begin was out to steal Jabotinsky's mantle and refused to defect from the old party.
in Israel's first elections, Herut won 14 seats, making it the fourth largest party in the Knesset, whilst Hatzohar failed to cross the electoral threshold of 1% and disbanded shortly thereafter. During the Knesset session the party lost two seats when Ari Jabotinsky and Hillel Kook left the party to sit as independent MKs.
The party was considered outside the mainstream, and renowned for its right-wing views, refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the Kingdom of Jordan and frequently used the slogan "To the banks of the Jordan River" in claiming Israel's right to the whole of the West Bank. Begin also opposed many of the government's actions, including the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany of 1952, and encouraged civil disobedience during the debate on the affair.
The hostility between Begin and Israel's first Prime Minister and Mapai leader, David Ben-Gurion which had begun over the Altalena Affair was evident in the Knesset. Ben-Gurion coined the phrase "without Herut and Maki" (Maki was the Communist Party of Israel), a reference to the fact that he would include any party in his coalition other than those two.
The 1951 elections were a disaster for the party, as their support was almost halved, and they were reduced to just eight seats. In contrast, the 1955 elections were a big success, with the party almost doubling their seats tally to 15 and becoming the second largest party in the Knesset after Mapai. Together with Maki, they helped bring down Moshe Sharett's government in 1954 through a motion of no-confidence over the government's position on the trial of Malkiel Gruenwald, who had accused Israel Kastzner of cooperating with the Nazis.
Herut added another seat in the 1959 elections, gradually growing, feeding on feelings of resentment against the left, mainly among new Sephardi and Mizrahi immigrants. The party helped bring down the government again in 1961 when they and the General Zionists tabled a motion of no confidence over the Lavon Affair. They maintained its 17 seats in the 1961 election, and soon after joined with the Liberal Party (itself a recent merger of the General Zionists and the Progressive Party) to form Gahal (a Hebrew acronym for the Herut-Liberal Bloc (Hebrew: גוש חרות-ליברלים, Gush Herut-Libralim)), though each party remained independent within the alliance. The merger also led to the formation of the Independent Liberals, a group of former Liberal Party members who disagreed with the merger (most of whom had been Progressive Party members).
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