ABSTRACT
Israeli parties during the 1948–1967 period found the attention of their principal leaders frequently focused on foreign policy issues. The foreign/defense/security policy matrix commanded the attention of the top Mapai leadership to a striking extent, while Herut leader Menahem Begin was concerned almost exclusively with these issues. The proper object of Israeli policy over the near-medium term was to keep Israel alive and strong without aggravating Arab sensitivities and anxieties beyond the ineluctable minimum. During the periods between wars, Ahdut Avodah consistently demanded a tough retaliatory policy in order to deter recurrent Arab attacks. Herut modified the stridency of its foreign policy line in 1965 in order to meet the conditions laid down by the Liberal Party for the establishment of the Gahal electoral alignment. Herut’s militant foreign policy demands were indirectly useful to Ben-Gurion in his intra-party struggle with the Mapai doves.
