Histadrut

(General Federation of Labor)

   The General Federation of Labor in Israel was founded in Haifa in December 1920 as a federation of Jewish labor (Hahistadrut Haklalit Shel Ha'ovdim Ha'ivrim Be'eretz Yisrael). In 1966, Ha'ivrim (Hebrew) was dropped from the organization's name, thus admitting Israeli Arabs to full membership. The purpose was to unite and organize all workers, to raise their standard of living, and to defend their economic interests, as well as to represent their interests in other areas. It is the country's biggest employer, controlling some 60 percent of the country's industry. It controls the Hapoel sports organization, the Na'amat women's organization, and the biggest health insurance fund, Kupat Holim.

   The Histadrut provides a wide range of services to its members. It cooperates with the government in numerous areas related to domestic and foreign policy and carries out many functions that are normally government activities in other modern states. Many of its leaders have served in major government posts (including that of prime minister) before and after working in Histadrut. Its decision-making bodies are organized along partisan political lines, and the organization as a whole has long been closely aligned with the leaders and policies of the Israel Labor Party.

   The Histadrut's constitution states, "The General Federation unites all workers in the land, as long as they live by their own toil without exploitation of another's labor, for the arrangement of all settlement and economic matters as well as cultural affairs of workers in the land, for the upbuilding of a Jewish workers' commonwealth in Eretz Israel." The founding convention also established a workers' bank (now known as Bank Hapoalim), Israel's largest. The Histadrut evolved into a major institution in the Yishuv and the state of Israel.

   The Histadrut has a number of constituent bodies. The general convention is the supreme authority of the Histadrut and its legislature. Its decisions bind all members and all units of the organization. It is elected once every four years in general, direct, secret, and proportional elections. The convention chooses the council (Moetzet Hahistadrut), whose composition is based on and reflects the political makeup of the convention. The Histadrut council is the supreme institution of the Histadrut between conventions. The Histadrut executive is the governing executive body. It is chosen by the council in keeping with the party makeup of the Histadrut convention. It chooses the central committee and the secretary general. The His-tadrut central committee is its cabinet. It is chosen by the executive and formally serves as its secretariat, conducting the day-to-day operations of the labor federation. It is composed only of members of the ruling coalition. The Histadrut secretary general is chair of the executive and the council and is extremely powerful.

   The overall power and influence of the Histadrut declined due in large measure to efforts in the 1990s to breakup and privatize giant consortiums, efforts that pitted the Histadrut against Israel Labor Party and Likud governments alike.

   Though somewhat weakened by this trend as well as by significant changes and political divisions within the organization itself, the His-tadrut remains very much a force to be reckoned with in Israeli economic, social, and political affairs. In the spring of 1999, Histadrut chairman (and former Labor member of the Knesset) Amir Peretz established a separate workers' political party, One People (Am Echad), that won two seats in the 15th Knesset (1999) and three seats in the 16th Knesset (2003). Am Echad elected to reunite with Labor in May 2004, and in November 2005, Am Echad and Histadrut leader Peretz was elected head of the Israel Labor Party.

   Secretaries general of the Histadrut have included David Ben-Gurion (1921-35), David Remez (1935-45), Yosef Sprinzak (1945—49), Pinhas Lavon (1945-50, 1955-61), Mordechai Namir (1951-55), Aharon Becker (1961-69), Yitzhak Ben-Aharon (1969-73), Yeruham Meshel (1973-84), Israel Kessar (1984-92), Haim Haberfeld (1992-94), Haim Ramon (1994-95), and Peretz (1995-2006). Ofer Ayani was chosen to succeed Peretz as secretary general of the Histadrut in 2006. Currently, Ayani serves as secretary general of the Histadrut.