Mizrachi

   A religious Zionist political party that came into being in 1902, although its central concept can be identified as early as the 1880s. The founders of the movement did not see an inherent contradiction between traditional Judaism and Zionism. Mizrachi and its labor offshoot, Hapoel Hamizrachi (founded in 1922), functioned as part of the World Zionist Organization and the Yishuv institutions in Palestine. The fundamental principle on which the Mizrachi and Hapoel Hamizrachi were based is adherence to Jewish religion and tradition. Both parties sought to secure the adoption of the religious precepts of Judaism in the everyday life of the Yishuv and to found the state of Israel constitutionally upon Jewish religious law.

   The difference between the two parties was in the social composition of their membership, which gave each a distinctive social outlook. The attitude of Mizrachi on internal social issues was largely determined by the fact that its members were drawn almost entirely from the middle class. As distinct from the Mizrachi, Hapoel Hamizrachi was composed exclusively of Orthodox working-class elements. In addition to being a political party, Hapoel Hamizrachi served as a professional organization, fulfilling all the functions the Histadrut performs for its members. In the 1951 Knesset election, Mizrachi won two seats and Hapoel Hamizrachi won eight seats. In 1955, Mizrachi and Hapoel Hamizrachi formed the National Religious Party to contest the Knesset election as a religious party seeking to combine religious concerns and a moderate socialist orientation in economic matters within a Zionist framework. A centerpiece of Mizrachi's religious-Zionist philosophy is the hesder yeshiva system that combines military service with religious studies.