Independence (Israeli Political Party)

Independence emerged during the Eighteenth Knesset as a five-member breakaway from Labor. Ehud Barak, Matan Vilnai, Shalom Simhon, Orit Noked, and Einat Wilf formed the faction on January 17, 2011, and remained in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition while the remaining Labor lawmakers moved into opposition.[2][4]

The party combined a centrist and Zionist identity with security, economic, and social proposals. Its parliamentary role preserved Netanyahu’s 66-seat coalition majority, and four of its five founding lawmakers received ministerial posts. The faction remained represented through the end of the Eighteenth Knesset but did not contest the January 22, 2013 election.[2][3]

Independence emerged from a dispute over Labor’s direction and its participation in Netanyahu’s governing coalition. Labor members critical of the government’s handling of the peace process pressed for the party to leave the coalition, while Barak’s faction supported remaining. A Congressional Research Service report linked the split to the stalled peace process and Labor’s threat to withdraw, noting that Independence’s decision to remain left Netanyahu with 66 of the Knesset’s 120 members.[2] Britannica characterized the resulting coalition as smaller but more stable and less exposed to criticism from Labor.[5]

On January 17, 2011, Barak, then Labor leader and defense minister, announced that he was leaving with Vilnai, Simhon, Noked, and Wilf to form Atzmaut, or Independence. Labor had 13 Knesset members before the departure, leaving eight in the party afterward.[6]

Barak attributed the split to Labor’s shift leftward and what he called “endless infighting,” which he said had weakened and divided the party.[1] The departing lawmakers also cited disputes over the authority of Labor’s elected chairman, coalition policy, factionalism, and difficulty maintaining party discipline.[6] They said they intended to establish an independent political entity rather than continue Labor’s internal struggle.[1]

The faction was formally registered as a party in April 2011 after an agreement with Labor settled the separation. Independence took none of Labor’s assets or debts, and the parties agreed to divide equally the monthly NIS 315,000 allocation associated with a five-member faction.[7] Independence also used the organizational framework of the defunct Third Way party, which simplified access to state funding and avoided the full process of registering a new party.[7][8]

At a founding conference in Tel Aviv on May 12, 2011, about 80 participants joined the five breakaway lawmakers in approving a constitution and electing Barak chairman.[9] Barak said the party would draw inspiration from David Ben-Gurion and the principles of Israel’s Declaration of Independence.[10]

Independence presented itself as centrist, Zionist, and democratic. Barak described the planned movement as “Zionist, in the political center, and democratic,” following Ben-Gurion’s legacy, while its inaugural press conference called it “centrist, Zionist, and democratic.”[1][8] Its founding statements invoked the Declaration of Independence and placed the interests of the country before those of the party, media, or individual politicians.[6][10]

Barak said the party would seek permanent borders for Israel, renew the Zionist ideals of labor and solidarity among those contributing to the state, and strengthen agricultural settlement.[6] Vilnai described its diplomatic approach as pursuing peace from a position of strength.[10]

The party’s security platform emphasized missile defense. Barak proposed making Iron Dome an emergency-contingency program and deploying it with the Magic Wand system in full within two years.[10] A Hebrew-language account gave a different timetable: Iron Dome coverage for most citizens within two and a half years and David’s Sling within four years.[11]

On economic and social policy, Barak advocated combining growth with assistance to vulnerable people, support for the middle class, and aid to independent businesses. Noked called for investment in education, science, and culture to reduce social and economic gaps.[11] In 2012, the party launched a membership and advertising campaign using the slogan “Independence with Ehud Barak, because we need a responsible adult.” Simhon said it sought voters from the political center.[12]

The party’s initial rules gave substantial organizational authority to its chairman. Barak did not have to face primaries, could appoint up to one-quarter of the central committee, headed the party secretariat, and had exclusive authority to appoint the treasurer, spokesperson, and legal counsel and to sign political agreements. The method for selecting a Knesset list had not yet been decided.[10] Barak also said he wanted Independence to become the first Israeli party with 50 percent women.[9]

Independence’s immediate significance was its decision to remain in Netanyahu’s coalition after Labor left. A coalition agreement was signed after overnight negotiations less than a day after the split. Contemporary reporting described the allocation of four cabinet portfolios to a five-member faction as unprecedented and said Simhon and Vilnai would serve as observers in the political-security cabinet.[13]

In the eventual ministerial allocation, Barak remained defense minister; Simhon held the industry, trade and labor and minority-affairs portfolios; Noked became agriculture and rural development minister; and Vilnai served as minister of home-front defense.[8] Wilf was designated to chair the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee when the position became vacant.[13]

CRS tables for both 2011 and 2012 listed Independence as a five-seat coalition party under Barak. They also listed him as deputy prime minister and minister of defense.[2][14] In February 2012, Vilnai left the Knesset after being appointed Israel’s ambassador to China, and Shakib Shanan joined Independence in his place.[8]

Independence held five seats during the remainder of the Eighteenth Knesset, but contemporary assessments of its electoral future differed. One report emphasized the difficulty of clearing the 2 percent electoral threshold.[15] Another quoted an observer who described Barak’s political base as “virtually non-existent,” while recognizing his reputation as a decorated general and former prime minister as a political asset.[16] By contrast, polling reported after Israel’s November 2012 Gaza offensive indicated increased support for the party.[17]

On November 26, 2012, Barak announced that he was leaving political life and would not run in the upcoming election. He said he wanted to devote more time to his family and to study, write, and enjoy life.[17][18] The party’s remaining members then discussed options that included joining another party, reportedly their favored possibility.[18]

On December 6, Independence announced that it would not submit a candidate list for the Nineteenth Knesset election. Its statement said public money should not be spent on a campaign unlikely to achieve worthwhile results with a high degree of certainty. It nevertheless said the party would continue to exist while its members considered how to advance Israel’s security, economy, and social and democratic resilience.[19] The World Factbook account also records that Independence did not submit a list for the January 22, 2013 election.[3]

The party’s later status was described in different terms. Its December 2012 statement said it would continue to exist, while a 2019 report said it had ended its activity at the close of 2012. The later report stated that its organizational framework was used in 2019 to raise NIS 3 million in guarantees for Barak’s Israel Democratic party while the formal name change remained incomplete.[19][20]

The breakaway was sharply disputed within Labor. Isaac Herzog welcomed it as an opportunity for Labor to renew itself, while Shelly Yachimovich condemned it as “corrupt and opportunist” and criticized the name Independence as implying freedom from a platform, values, and obligations to the public.[1] Eitan Cabel also condemned the departure, while Netanyahu welcomed it as a development that would strengthen his coalition.[1][6]

Accounts of Barak’s motives emphasized different parts of the political dispute. Barak presented the move as a response to Labor’s internal conflict and leftward shift. CRS connected it to the stalled peace process and Labor’s threatened coalition withdrawal, while contemporary reporting described the desire to remain in the coalition as central to the breakaway.[1][2] These sources document competing political interpretations rather than a single settled explanation.