General Zionists - History

History

General Zionism was initially the term to refer to the beliefs of the majority of members of the Zionist Organization who had not joined a specific faction or party and belonged to their countrywide Zionist organizations only.

In 1922, various non-aligned groups and individuals established the Organization of General Zionists as a non-ideological party within the Zionist Organization (later the World Zionist Organization) at a time when the Zionist movement was becoming polarized between Labour Zionists and Revisionist Zionism.

However, eventually the General Zionists became identified with European liberal and middle class beliefs in private property and capitalism. From 1931 to 1945 the General Zionist movement was divided into two factions due to differences over social issues, economics and labour issues (e.g. the Histadrut). In the years following the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the General Zionists moved towards the right in opposition to the hegemony of Mapai and other Labour Zionist movements in Israeli politics.

In 1936 the General Zionists established a daily newspaper, HaBoker, which was edited for the first ten years of its existence by Peretz Bernstein. It ceased publication in 1965.