Editing Meimad

{{Multiple issues|
{{Update|date=September 2019}}
{{Expand Hebrew|topic=gov|date=August 2022}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox political party
|country = Israel
|colorcode = {{party color|Meimad}}
|name = Meimad
|native_name = {{Nobold|{{Script/Hebrew|מימד}}}}
|logo = Meimad logo.svg
|logo_size = 140px
|leader = [[Yehuda Amital]]<br />[[Michael Melchior]]
|chairman =
|president =
|founded = 1988
|dissolved =
|split =
|merged =
|headquarters =
|newspaper =
|youth_wing =
|colours =
|membership_year =
|membership =
|ideology = [[Religious Zionism]]<br />[[Social democracy]]<br />[[Two-state solution]]
|position = [[Centre-left]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Green-Movement-Meimad-to-stress-environmental-issues-in-elections |author=Ehud Zion Waldoks |title=Green Movement-Meimad to stress environmental issues in elections |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=2009-01-20 |access-date=21 June 2015}}</ref>
|national =
|international =
|seats1_title = [[Knesset]]
|seats1 =
|religion = [[Orthodox Judaism]]<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmYTCgAAQBAJ&q=Meimad+%2B+Orthodox+party&pg=PA187 |title = Jewish Fundamentalism in Comparative Perspective: Religion, Ideology, and the Crisis of Morality|isbn = 9780814779668|last1 = Silberstein|first1 = Laurence J.|date = February 1993}}</ref>
|colors =
|website = {{URL|https://web.archive.org/web/20090717061122/http://english.meimad.org.il/|english.meimad.org.il}}
|symbol = {{Script/Hebrew|מי}}
|seats2_title = Most MKs
|seats2 = {{nowrap|2 (1999, 2001)}}

}}

'''Meimad''' ({{langx|he|מימד}}, an acronym for ''Medina Yehudit, Medina Demokratit'' ({{Script/Hebrew|מדינה יהודית, מדינה דמוקרטית}}), lit., ''Jewish State, Democratic State'')<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kaplan |first=Robert D. |date=January 2000 |title=Judaism's Challenge |work=The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/00jan/001kaplan3.htm |access-date=22 April 2022}}</ref> is a [[moderate]] to [[left-wing]] [[Religious Zionism|religious Zionist]] [[List of political parties in Israel|political party]] in [[Israel]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/182846812 |title=Can Faiths Make Peace?: Holy Wars and the Resolution of Religious Conflicts |date=2007 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |others=Philip Broadhead, Damien Keown |isbn=978-1-4356-1230-3 |location=London |pages=12–13 |oclc=182846812}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Maltz |first=Judy |date=9 June 2018 |title=Disgusted by Far-right Policies, Some Religious Zionists in Israel Look Left for New Leadership |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2018-06-09/ty-article/.premium/disgusted-by-far-right-some-religious-zionists-in-israel-head-left/0000017f-e61a-dc7e-adff-f6bff2740000 |url-status=live |access-date=25 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220825180340/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2018-06-09/ty-article/.premium/disgusted-by-far-right-some-religious-zionists-in-israel-head-left/0000017f-e61a-dc7e-adff-f6bff2740000 |archive-date=25 August 2022 |quote=What Meimad offers them that other left-wing parties do not, [Melchior] adds, is a platform that "addresses issues from a Jewish perspective."}}</ref> Founded in 1999, it is based on the ideology of the Meimad movement founded in 1988 by Rabbi [[Yehuda Amital]]. It was formed by [[religious Zionists]] who supported the peace process and believed the [[National Religious Party]] had drifted too far to the right.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mf-xAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA390 |title=Historical Dictionary of Israel |author=Bernard Reich |author2=David H. Goldberg |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2008 |isbn=9780810864030 |page=390 |access-date=21 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FDVzAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA702 |title=Political Handbook of the World 2014 |author=Tom Lansford |year=2014 |publisher=CQ Press |isbn=9781483333274 |page=702 |access-date=21 June 2015}}</ref>

At the national level, it was in alliance with the [[Israeli Labor Party|Labor Party]], and until the [[2006 Israeli legislative election|2006 election]], received the 10th spot on the Labor [[Knesset]] list. Meimad ended the pact with the [[2009 Israeli legislative election|2009 election]], formed an alliance with the [[Green Movement (Israel)|Green Movement]], and failed to win enough votes to be elected to the Knesset.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

==History==
The Meimad movement was founded on 1 June 1988 by Rabbi [[Yehuda Amital]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Hoffman |first=Gil |date=7 June 2018 |title=Religious-Zionist Meimad party reviving |work=The Jerusalem Post |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/religious-zionist-meimad-party-reviving-559376 |access-date=22 April 2022}}</ref> and included former [[National Religious Party]] Knesset member [[Yehuda Ben-Meir]]. It emerged from ''Oz ve Shalom (Strength and Peace)'', an Orthodox Jewish peace movement.<ref name=":1" /> It contested the [[1988 Israeli legislative election|1988 Knesset elections]], receiving 0.7% of the vote and failing to cross the 1% [[electoral threshold]]. Following the [[Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin|assassination]] of Prime Minister [[Yitzhak Rabin]] in 1995, his successor, [[Shimon Peres]], invited Rabbi Amital to serve as a [[Minister without portfolio|Minister without Portfolio]]. He held this position until 1996.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-07-11 |title=PM: Rabbi Amital loved peace |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel/pm-rabbi-amital-loved-peace |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en}}</ref>

Eleven years later, a political party for the movement was established, and joined the [[One Israel]] alliance that won the [[1999 Israeli legislative election|Knesset elections that year]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/61748377 |title=World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties |publisher=Facts on File |others=George E. Delury, Neil Schlager |year=2006 |isbn=0-8160-5953-5 |edition=4 |location=New York, NY |pages=653–655 |oclc=61748377}}</ref> Meimad received one seat, taken by [[Michael Melchior]]. It gained a second when [[Yehuda Gilad (politician)|Yehuda Gilad]] replaced [[Maxim Levy]] in 2002. [[Tova Ilan]] also represented Meimad in the Knesset for a brief spell in 2006, after several other Labor MKs resigned. It attracted moderates among immigrants from the English-speaking world, including [[Shimon Glick]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brinkley |first1=Joel |title=Keys to Israeli Vote: The Orthodox and the Arabs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/18/world/keys-to-israeli-vote-the-orthodox-and-the-arabs.html |newspaper=The New York Times|date=18 October 1988 |access-date=30 October 2014}}</ref>

In November 2008, minister and former Labor Party member [[Ami Ayalon]] joined Meimad.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3624006,00.html |title=Ami Ayalon won't join Meretz|publisher=[[Ynet]] |date=2008-11-17 |last=Somfalvi |first=Attila |access-date=2008-11-17}}</ref> In the same month, the party ended its alliance with Labor after being told that 10th spot on the list would no longer be reserved for Meimad for the [[2009 Israeli legislative election|2009 legislative elections]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Shortly afterwards, Ayalon announced his resignation from politics,<ref>{{cite news |author=Gil Hoffman |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Ayalon-declares-he-is-quitting-politics |title=Ayalon declares he is quitting politics |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=14 December 2008 |access-date=21 June 2015}}</ref> and the party formed an umbrella alliance with [[Green Movement (Israel)|the Green Movement]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Ehud Zion Waldoks |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Green-Movement-Meimad-run-together |title=Green Movement, Meimad run together |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=18 December 2008 |access-date=21 June 2015}}</ref>

In 2012, Melchior announced that he would not stand for election.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Melchoir |first1=Michael |title=Pursuing the Meimad mission from beyond the political arena |url=http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/pursuing-the-meimad-mission-from-beyond-the-political-arena/ |work=The Times of Israel |date=11 December 2012 |access-date=30 October 2014}}</ref> The party was revived in 2018.<ref name=":0" />

==Ideology==
The party emphasizes the values of many [[social democratic]] parties, except on religious issues. Meimad, like Labor, takes a centre-left approach to the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]].<ref>{{Cite journal |date=June 2018 |editor-last=Lintl |editor-first=Peter |title=Actors in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Interests, Narratives and the Reciprocal Effects of the Occupation |url=https://www.swp-berlin.org/publications/products/research_papers/2018RP03_ltl.pdf |journal=Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik |publisher=[[German Institute for International and Security Affairs]] |pages=8}}</ref> However, it supports [[Torah study|religious studies]] in the main curriculum of Israel's public schools, and encourages the use of [[Beth din|rabbinical court]]s in addition to civil courts.

Under Melchior, the party has taken an even more left-leaning approach—both in foreign and, especially, in domestic affairs. The party has run in municipal elections in 2003, winning a number of key seats in [[Tel Aviv]]. It also ran together with [[Meretz]] party in [[Haifa]] in which it shares a seat under a rotation agreement. Shlomo Yaakov Rapaport serves on the Haifa city council representing Meimad, and is the chairman of the Haifa Aliyah and absorption committee, and the chairman of the municipal committee against alcohol and drug abuse.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}
== Election results ==
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
! Election 
! Leader
! Votes
! %
! Seats
! +/–
! Status
|-
|[[1988 Israeli legislative election|1988]]
|[[Yehuda Amital]]
|15,783
|0.69 (#17)
|{{Composition bar|0|120|hex={{party color|Meimad}}}}
|New
|{{no|Extraparliamentary}}
|-
|[[1992 Israeli legislative election|1992]]
| colspan="5" rowspan=2|Did not contest 
| {{no|Extraparliamentary}}
|-
|[[1996 Israeli legislative election|1996]]
| {{no|Extraparliamentary}}
|-
|[[1999 Israeli legislative election|1999]]
|rowspan=6|[[Michael Melchior]]
|colspan=2|Part of [[One Israel]]
|{{Composition bar|1|120|hex={{party color|Meimad}}}}
|{{increase}} 1
|{{yes2|Coalition}}
|-
|rowspan=3|[[2003 Israeli legislative election|2003]]
|colspan=2 rowspan=4|With [[Israeli Labor Party|Labor]]
|rowspan=3|{{Composition bar|1|120|hex={{party color|Meimad}}}}
|rowspan=3|{{decrease}} 1
|{{no2|Opposition {{small|(2003–2005)}}}}
|-
|{{yes2|Coalition {{small|(2005)}}}}
|-
|{{no2|Opposition {{small|(2005–2006)}}}}
|-
|[[2006 Israeli legislative election|2006]]
|{{Composition bar|1|120|hex={{party color|Meimad}}}}
|{{steady}}
|{{yes2|Coalition}}
|-
|[[2009 Israeli legislative election|2009]]
|colspan=2|With the [[Green Party (Israel)|Green Movement]]
|{{Composition bar|0|120|hex={{party color|Meimad}}}}
|{{decrease}} 1
| {{no|Extraparliamentary}}
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060902172530/http://english.meimad.org.il/ Official site] {{in lang|en}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/19981202152640/http://www.meimad.org.il/ Official site] {{in lang|he}}

{{Israeli political parties}}
{{Religious Zionism}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1999 establishments in Israel]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Israel]]
[[Category:Orthodox Jewish political parties]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1999]]
[[Category:Religious Zionism]]
[[Category:Religious Zionist political parties in Israel]]
[[Category:Social democratic parties]]
[[Category:Words and phrases in Modern Hebrew]]