Maki (Defunct Political Party)

For the party currently using the name ‘Maki’, see Maki (formerly Rakach)

Maki (the Hebrew acronym for Israeli Communist Party), was an Israeli Communist political party which existed from 1948 to 1973. It should not be confused with the party currently known as Maki, which used the name Rakach until 1989.

History[edit]

Maki was established in 1948 from the merger of several different political groups.^[1] During its early years the party engaged in political subversion, organizing violent protests, spreading incitement and infiltrating different bodies in order to gather intelligence.^[2] At the same time, Maki participated in the elections to the Knesset,^[3] using it as a stage for anti-Israeli sermons. Among the political positions held by the party was allowing the Arab refugees from the Israeli independence war to return to Israel,^[2] a move which if carried out would lead to an Arab majority in the country and its destruction from within.^[4]

With the time, many of the party’s Jewish members began to oppose the anti-Israel positions the Soviet Union espoused. Internal fighting followed as a result between the pro-Zionist and the anti-Zionist factions, leading to a group of Arab members (accompanied by a handful of anti-Zionist Jews) leaving the party in 1965 and forming Rakach (Hebrew acronym of New Communist List).^[5][6] Most of the communists in Israel supported Rakach over Maki, with the former gaining more seats than the latter in the sixth and seventh Knesset.^[3][6] In 1973 Maki dissolved by merging into the party Moked.^[1] In 1989 Rakach changed its name to Maki,^[3] signifying their belief that group who split from the party in 1965 were the true heirs of its spirit rather than the members who stayed.

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