Time to combat the pernicious lies (wrtten by the same bloggers ) once and for all.
The (Ashkenazi) chareidim have stood on principle while conversely the mizrachi have not had on which to stand.
[1] However, most of the National Union left the merger shortly after its implementation.
From its inception the NRP maintained an almost constant number of 12 members of the Israeli Knesset. In 1981 it shrank to 6 members. The reasons were diverse: An overall reduction in its natural voting population; the political moderation of many Orthodox Jews; its turn towards the right-wing; the growing importance of the right-left schism in Israeli politics; and the rise of Orthodox Sephardic parties such as Tami and later Shas.
The party was unique in that it participated in all the governments of Israel until 1992. During this period it was a centrist party, interested mainly in religious matters and impervious to the left-right divisions of the Israeli public. The longtime cooperation between the Israeli Labour Party and the NRP is sometimes referred to as the historic league (????? ?????????).
Main principles
The Fourth Knesset
The government collapsed when Ben-Gurion resigned on 31 January 1961, over a motion of no-confidence brought by Herut and the General Zionists concerning the Lavon Affair. After Ben-Gurion was unable to form a new government new elections were called. At only one year and nine months, the fourth Knesset is the shortest Knesset term to date.
The Seventh Knesset
Golda Meir of the Alignment formed the fifteenth government, a national unity government including Gahal, the National Religious Party, the Independent Liberals, Progress and Development and Cooperation and Brotherhood. There were 24 ministers.
Gahal resigned from the coalition on 6 August 1970 after the government had decided to adopt the Rogers Plan.
The seventh Knesset was one of the most stable, with only one new party created (and that itself was virtually a rename of an existing party) and four MKs changing parties.
The Eighth Knesset
Golda Meir of the Alignment formed the sixteenth government on 10 March 1974, including the National Religious Party and the Independent Liberals in her coalition, with 22 ministers. Meir resigned on 11 April 1974 after the Agranat Commission had published its interim report on the Yom Kippur War.
The government resigned on 22 December 1976, after ministers of the National Religious Party were sacked because the party had abstained from voting on a motion of no confidence, which had been brought by Agudat Yisrael over a breach of the Sabbath on an Israeli Air Force base.
The 15th Knesset
After winning the Prime Ministerial elections, Ehud Barak formed the 28th government of Israel on 6 July 1999. His coalition included One Israel, Shas, Meretz, Yisrael BaAliyah, the Centre Party, the National Religious Party and United Torah Judaism, and initially had 16 ministers, though the number later rose to 24. Avraham Burg was appointed as Speaker of the Knesset.
United Torah Judaism left the coalition in September 1999 after a breach of the Sabbath. The government finally collapsed on 10 December 2000 when Barak resigned in the face of the outbreak of the Second Intifada and the Israeli Arab riots of October. Barak called new elections for the position of Prime Minister, which he lost to Ariel Sharon.
The Sixteenth Knesset
Ariel Sharon formed the 30th government on 28 February 2003. His coalition initially included just Shinui and the National Union (Israel BaAliya had merged into Likud soon after the election), though the National Religious Party joined the government on 3 March.