ABSTRACT
The foreign policy controversy within Labor became intertwined with the succession struggle from the very outset. The interconnection between the foreign policy controversy within Labor and the succession struggle in the party was significant but never decisive. The legacy of the Six Day War contributed significantly to the political crisis which engulfed Israel’s three most important parties--Mapai/Labor, Herut, and the Mafdal--in the subsequent years. The Labor Party, which was established on January 21, 1968, through the merger of three labor parties--Mapai, Ahdut Avodah, and Rafi--suffered most acutely from the strains and turmoil of the post-1967 period. The prolonged internal crisis of the Labor Party contributed significantly to its electoral decline, and to the concomitant strengthening of the Herut-led bloc. The establishment of a rightist electoral bloc in 1965 constituted a major tactical triumph for Herut, as it established itself for the first time as a viable future challenger to Labor primacy.
