One Nation (Israel)

One Nation sought to represent workers and old-age pensioners through a party separate from Labor.[1] Its electoral identity was explicit in the name under which it contested the 1999 election: “One Nation - for Israeli Workers and Pensioners.”[6] Its leadership emerged from the trade-union movement, and its social and economic program was clearly left-wing.[2]

The party’s emphasis was on employment, unionization, the right to strike, and the ability to live with dignity.[5] Rather than presenting an equally developed program across every major political question, it concentrated on social and economic issues; its early program did not state positions on peace and security, the state, or religion.[2] In its outreach before the 2003 election, it put social issues ahead of the peace process and sought support from voters who had left Labor.[7]

Ahead of the 1999 Knesset election, Histadrut chairman Amir Peretz left Labor and established One Nation as a workers’ and social-democratic party.[8] Sources date its formation differently, from late 1998 to a March 1999 parliamentary breakaway.[2][1] Trade-union leaders involved in its foundation included Peretz, Haim Katz, and M. Overkovich.[2] Peretz became Histadrut chairman in late 1995 and continued leading the labor federation while heading One Nation.[8]

In the May 17, 1999 election, One Nation received 1.9 percent of the vote and won two seats in the 15th Knesset.[3] A faction roster updated to August 1, 2000 listed Peretz as its chairman and Katz as its other member.[9] The party did not join the government coalition immediately following the 1999 election.[2] It later joined the government formed by Ariel Sharon in March 2001 and left it in March 2002.[1]

In the parliamentary arithmetic following the 1999 election, One Nation was grouped with Meretz, Yisrael Ba’aliyah, Shinui, and the Center Party in a secular, centrist, and left-leaning bloc.[10] A possible coalition configuration including One Nation would nevertheless have been a minority coalition.[10]

At the January 28, 2003 election, the party increased its representation to three seats, receiving 86,808 votes, or 2.76 percent of the total.[4] It was one of 17 parties or blocs represented in the 120-seat Knesset following that election.[11] Peretz headed the party across both the 1999 and 2003 elections.[1]

One Nation subsequently returned to Labor following lengthy negotiations.[12] Accounts date the merger to mid-2004 or the beginning of 2005.[8][1]

For the 2003 election, One Nation advocated reducing income gaps and making government action against unemployment a central public responsibility.[5] It sought to raise the prominence of employment, union organization, strike rights, and dignified living standards in political debate.[5] Its platform also called for pensions for every citizen, equal pay for women, free education from nursery school through university, equal rights in health care, and adequate housing.[5]

Peretz advocated direct government involvement in social provision, including establishing schools and factories and creating a more dignified system of assistance for citizens.[7] He distinguished a welfare state from a state of charity.[7] Supporters presented a proposed network of schools as a means of becoming “the Shas of the secular people.”[7]

During the 15th Knesset, Peretz served on the Knesset Committee and the Committee on the Status of Women and sought to advance legislation raising the minimum wage.[13] His committee work also covered foreign workers, trafficking in women, and social disparity.[14] The movement’s website presented its guiding ideology as social democracy and made its platform and information about its parliamentary activity available in Hebrew, English, Russian, and Arabic.[13]

Following the 2003 election, Peretz also led the Histadrut’s opposition to Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s economic reforms.[8] Those reforms included privatization of services and public companies, including the Ports Authority, alongside welfare cuts.[8] Peretz initiated general strikes and extended public-sector sanctions, with the confrontation ultimately ending in a compromise.[8]

One Nation gave separate parliamentary expression to a workers’ agenda centered on social justice and economic inequality.[2][5] Although its representation remained small, it increased from two seats in 1999 to three in 2003.[3][4] During his leadership of the party, Peretz gained popularity among working-class voters.[12]

The party’s electoral base included powerful workplace committees that worked closely with Peretz.[7] Its effort to expand beyond that base included appeals to former Labor voters and a greater emphasis on social issues in its campaigning.[7]

In a 2005 interview, Peretz said the party had originally had 22,000 members, of whom 18,000 remained before another 10,000 joined.[15] He argued that the members brought into Labor, including people from development towns and poorer neighborhoods, renewed Labor’s legitimacy as a social-democratic party.[15]

One Nation’s close relationship with powerful workplace committees drew criticism that its alignment with well-organized workers could come at the expense of weaker workers.[7] This criticism concerned the party’s claim to represent ordinary workers while relying on established workplace organizations as an important electoral base.[7]