Likud

'Likud' or ליקוד Literally means consolidation. Was formed by the joining together of Free Center, La'am and Gahal in preparation for the 1973 elections. Quickly became and remains to this day the conservative party in Israel.

The first Likud prime minister was Menachem Begin (elected 1977). A former leader of the hard-line paramilitary Irgun, he helped initiate the peace process with Egypt, which resulted in the Camp David Accords and the 1979 Israel-­Egypt Peace Treaty. The second was Itzhak Shamir, who first became PM in October 1983 following Begin's resignation. The third was Natanyahu, elected in May 1996. Probably the most right-wing of all Likud PM's. The fourth is Ariel Sharon, elected October 2000. Served as defence minister during Operation Peace for the Galilee (1982). His entire tenure was marked by the Al-aqsa inifadah, an uprising by Palestinians living in the occupied territories. Sharon was re-elected in January 2003 and was still serving at the time of this article (April 2003).

Likud originally enjoyed great support from blue-collar Sepharedim who felt discrimminated against by the ruling Mapam party. To this day the Likud's strong supporter base remains amongst Sepharedim and kippah sruga - middle-of-the-road - Orthodox.