‘From different camps we came’: HaTehiya and the sources of the Israeli far right

This article explores the history, ideology, and political significance of HaTehiya, a small but influential far-right party that operated in Israel between 1979 and 1992. Although its electoral results were modest, HaTehiya played a formative role in reshaping the ideological landscape of Israeli politics during the late 1970s and 1980s—a period when the traditional left–right division based on socio-economic issues gave way to conflicts over security and the future of the occupied territories. Drawing on archival materials, press coverage, and parliamentary records, the article traces the party’s roots in both Labor Zionism and Religious Zionism, and its leaders’ estrangement from their original political homes following the Camp David Accords. By analyzing the biographies of HaTehiya’s founders—figures such as Yuval Ne’eman, Geula Cohen, and Moshe Shamir—the study reveals how advocates of Greater Israel, disillusioned with both Labor and Likud, created a new ideological home that bridged secular and religious camps. The article argues that HaTehiya marked the birth of the modern Israeli far right: socially heterogeneous, electorally marginal yet strategically potent, and capable of exerting disproportionate influence through tactical participation in Likud-led coalitions. Ultimately, HaTehiya’s story illuminates the deeper ideological realignment of Israeli politics and the enduring transformation of its left–right boundaries.