The missing explanation behind the 1977 ‘Upheaval’: the rise of the social wing within the Israeli right, 1961–1977

This article revisits the 1977 political ‘upheaval’ in Israel by focusing on a development within the right that has received limited attention: the emergence of a ‘social wing’ from the early 1960s to 1977. It argues that the rise of the right cannot be fully understood without considering a shift in its socioeconomic outlook. Drawing on archival sources, party records, parliamentary debates, and contemporary press, the article traces the consolidation of a non-socialist yet pro-worker current within Herut, Gahal, and later the Likud. It situates this development within a broader comparative context of post-war European centre-right parties, while noting the relatively late emergence of a social right in Israel. It then traces the faction’s evolution across several arenas—party institutions, the Histadrut (the national labour federation), and the Knesset—and highlights the roles of figures such as Yoram Aridor and David Levy. By the mid-1970s, this current had secured a more stable position within the movement. On the eve of the 1977 upheaval, it helped shape a distinct socioeconomic agenda that spoke to working-class and lower-strata voters, while remaining anchored in the right’s national and hawkish commitments.