Moledet was established by Rehavam Ze'evi in 1988.[4] It won two seats in the Knesset elections later that year, taken by Ze'evi and Yair Sprinzak. It joined Yitzhak Shamir's government in February 1991 and Ze'evi was appointed Minister without Portfolio. However, he resigned from the cabinet on 21 January the following year.[5] In the 1992 elections, the party won three seats, with Yosef Ba-Gad and Shaul Gutman joining Ze'evi in the Knesset. However, Gutman left the party to establish Yamin Yisrael on 27 July 1995, whilst Ba-Gad left to sit as an independent on 12 March 1996.[6]
Prior to the 2006 elections, the National Union formed an alliance with the National Religious Party, which went on to win nine seats; Moledet again held two seats, taken by Elon and Eldad. On 3 November 2008 the party announced a merger with other members of the National Union, the National Religious Party and Tkuma to form a new right-wing party,[7] later named the Jewish Home. However, the Jewish Home excluded ex-Moledet members from the top slots of the candidate list for the 2009 elections. Moledet then rejected the merger and joined the revived National Union. Although the Union won four seats, the highest place Moledet candidate was fifth-placed Uri Bank, who failed to enter the Knesset.
In the lead up to the 2013 elections, Tkuma merged with the Jewish Home. Bank supported the merger and allowed Tkuma to continue using the letter 'Tet' on the ballot.[8]
Ideology
The party advocated encouraging voluntary population transfer (as opposed to forced transfer) of the Arab population of the West Bank. While other parties, namely Kach and Herut, also advocated transfer, Moledet was the party most associated with the concept in Israel, given the dearth of other elements in its platform and Ze'evi's success in bringing together opposing political elements—both secular and religious—under the transfer flag. In contrast to Kach and the ideas of Meir Kahane, Moledet advocated only voluntary transfer.
^"Israel's Christian Soldiers". New York Magazine. 29 September 2003. He is Israel's Tourism minister and the head of Moledet, one of the small right-wing parties that help keep Ariel Sharon in power.
