This is an election poster for the 1955 Israeli elections. The poster, published by the General Zionist Party, features an anti-Mapai illustration. The caption reads “Ceasefire!” and has a colour illustration of a man standing on the shore next to a cannon, looking out at a ship that has been shelled and is sinking. On the man’s armband and on the flag of the canon is the Hebrew letter aleph, representing the Mapai party. The aleph is white on a red background, with an anvil design which represented the party’s socialist ideology. The ammunition ready to be fired from the canon represents Mapai’s economic policies: “socialism in our day,” “foreign exchange control,” and “monopolies.” The sinking ship, representing the issues that Mapai is claimed to oppose, is labelled “capital investments” and “individual freedom.” The text at the bottom of the poster says “vote tzadi,” the letter representing the General Zionist Party.
In addition to stressing Mapai’s opposition to liberal economic policies, the General Zionist Party was looking to remind the viewers of Mapai’s role in the Altalena Affair. The Altalena Affair was a 1948 IDF attack ordered by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion on the Etzel (Irgun) ship carrying weapons and fighters. Although it was claimed that Ben-Gurion was acting to protect the sovereignty and unity of the state, members of the Etzel, led by Menachem Begin, never forgave Ben-Gurion and Mapai for this action. The poster uses the imagery of the Altalena to remind the public of Ben-Gurion’s actions and thus to warn them against trusting a leader who can fire against his own people.
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General Zionists – The General Zionist Party, indicated by the letter tzadi, was a centre-right political party which existed from the 1930s until the 1960s, when it became the Liberal Party. It later joined other parties to form the Likud. It was a liberal party believing in the free market and capitalism and thus opposed Mapai’s socialist ideology. This position, expressed in their slogan “Let Us Live in This Country” and their struggle against the tzena (austerity measures) imposed by Mapai in the 1950s, brought the General Zionists many votes.
The Altalena Affair – The Altalena was a ship purchased by the Etzel (Irgun), led by Menachem Begin, which was bringing weapons and fighters to Israel from Europe in June 1948, a month after the establishment of the State of Israel. David Ben-Gurion, the prime minister of the new state, demanded the weapons be handed over to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF); there was, in his opinion, no longer a place for other paramilitary organisations like the Etzel. There was a standoff between Begin and Ben- Gurion, which ended when Ben-Gurion ordered the IDF to shell the Altalena. Sixteen Irgun fighters and two IDF soldiers were killed in the incident. The Altalena Affair was controversial and heart-breaking and remained in the public consciousness long after it was over.
Mapai – Mapai (an acronym for Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael—The Workers Party of the Land of Israel) was the dominant political party in Israel until it ceased to exist as an individual party and merged with others to form the Labour party in 1968. Established in 1930, Mapai’s base of support was the Histadrut (Labour Union), the kibbutzim, and the moshavim. Mapai was a socialist-Zionist party and focused on meeting the needs of the working class including health care, employment, youth groups, and sport. David Ben-Gurion was Mapai’s most prominent figure, serving twice as prime minister (1948–1953 and 1955–1963). In later years, additional Mapai leaders held the position of prime minister: Moshe Sharett, Levi Eshkol, and Golda Meir. The party was seriously damaged by the Lavon Affair, a failed undercover operation that brought down the government in 1961. In 1968 Mapai joined with the parties Ahdut HaAvoda and Rafi to form the Labour party and led the Israeli government until Menachem Begin’s Likud party came to power in 1977. Mapai’s election symbol was the Hebrew letter aleph.
Elections in Israel – Israel is a democratic country, and general elections for the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, take place, according to the law, once every four years. The nationwide elections are based on a multi-party, proportional representation system. The legal voting age in Israel is 18, and all Israeli citizens from sectors may vote and be elected. Using voting slips with the initials of the parties, citizens vote for their preferred party and not for individual candidates. The 120 seats in the Knesset are then assigned proportionally to the parties according to the number of votes received. After the elections, the president of Israel chooses the leader of the largest party or of the party that is most likely to form a viable coalition government. This leader then forms a government, the Knesset gives it a vote of confidence, and the leader then becomes prime minister.
1955 Israeli General Elections – The elections for the 3rd Knesset were held on July 26, 1955. This campaign saw the return of David Ben-Gurion, after he had left political life and moved to his kibbutz, Sde Boker. Ben-Gurion’s return occurred following the Lavon Affair, which caused turmoil in the ruling party. These elections took place at the time of another scandal, the Kastner Affair, in which Israel Kastner, an important member of Mapai was accused of cooperating with the Nazis in Budapest. The election campaign was relatively turbulent, with bombs placed near General Zionist election meetings and the home of the Tel Aviv mayor, Israel Rokach. After Mapai’s seven years in power, much of the campaign was directed against the party, focusing on corruption and the centralist nature of the government. Other issues that were featured in the campaign were the reparations from Germany and the negative attitude of the government towards the immigrants. The main adversaries in this campaign were Mapai and the General Zionists. The elections resulted in a large decrease in the General Zionists’ representation, while the Herut party doubled its strength.
