HA-TEHIYAH("National Renaissance")

Ultranationalist Israeli party created in October 1979 by dissidents from Herut under the impetus of Geʾula Cohen and Moshe Samir. This group resulted from a split in the Israeli right, following the Israeli-Egyptian peace accord of the previous year. Ha-Tehiyah advocated maintaining an Israeli presence in all of the occupied territories, even Sinai. In July 1980, Cohen proposed a draft bill on the city of Jerusalem, "united city and eternal capital of Israel," for which she succeeded in gaining the support of Prime Minister Menachem Begin. As a result of the elections of July 1981, ha-Tehiyah won three seats, allowing the government of Begin to enjoy a narrow majority in the Knesset. In October 1983, Professor Yuval Ne'eman was named science minister in the government of Yitzhak Shamir. The following month ha-Tehiyah allied itself for a few months with the new extremist block of General Eitan, Tzomet. In February 1984, Cohen proposed restricting the election of the members of Knesset to Israelis who had done their military service, which consequently would have disqualified the Arab members of the Knesset. As a result of the elections of July 1984, Ha-Tehiyah, allied to the extremist settlers' movement, Gush Emunim, strengthened its position, winning five seats. However, dissension between religious and nonreligious ultranationalists in the movement weakened the Tehiyah-Gush Emunim alliance. Anticipating that the elections of June 1988 would be held in the shadow of the Intifada, the program of ha-Tehiyah proposed: 1) "Peace against peace, without ceding an inch of ground; 2) Augmenting the number of settlements, so as to assure their security; 3) Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip." In the elections ha-Tehiyah won only three seats, many militants having preferred to support Tzomet. In June 1990, backed by the deputies of Likud and those of the far right, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir decided to form a new cabinet, in which Professor Ne'eman was again science minister. Six months later, Ne'eman resigned after the Israeli government announced its intention of starting negotiations with the Palestinians. In April 1992, preparing for the Knesset elections of the following June, ha-Tehiyah joined with the extreme right party Moledet. The electoral defeat of the Israeli right led to the disappearance of ha-Tehiyah from the political stage, most of its members joining the ranks of Tzomet or the Likud.

SEE ALSO Begin, Menachem;Cohen, Geʾula;Gush Emunim;Herut;Intifada (1987–1993);Likud;Moledet;Ne'eman, Yuval;Shamir, Yitzhak;Tzomet Party.