The Mapainiki Tribe and the Likud Dynasty: The Great Families of the Knesset

Although a tenure in the Knesset is not inherited, over the years there have been a variety of elected officials who could celebrate Family Day in the Mishkan as well.

Who is the former MK who saw two of his children sworn in on behalf of various parties and which family has served cumulatively more years than the state's age? Some of the answers can be found around the Jezreel Valley

Yaki Adamkar

01/02/2022

Tuesday, 01 February 2022, 18:05 Updated: 19:12

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In the video: The inauguration of the President in the Knesset (Stills: Reuven Castro Photo: Knesset Channel)

Does politics flow in the blood?

Not sure, but data shared by the Knesset website on the occasion of Family Day shows many intergenerational connections in families who have devoted many years to Israeli politics.

The segmentation reveals that throughout its years, six pairs of brothers and sisters, 15 pairs of brothers-in-law, three married couples and a host of other family ties were elected to the Knesset.

Two places and two families in particular emerge from them, telling the story of Israeli politics through the ages.

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May 1, 1988 - Haim Herzog declares allegiance as President (second term) and on behalf of his son the current President Yitzhak Herzog (Photo: Official Website, Yitzhak Harari)

East of the Jezreel Valley is the city of Beit She'an, and in the center of the valley lies Moshav Nahalal - two settlements that, apart from geographical proximity, share almost no similar characteristic. Nahalal is the first workers' moshav in the Land of Israel, which is at the center of the Zionist ethos of the struggle for the establishment of the state; Beit She'an is a symbol of the development towns established in remote school areas, and inhabited mainly by North African immigrants. However, the two places also have something in common: they are home to two important political family lineages, which illustrate the story of Israeli politics.

The manager sells the Dayan family, which is no less known for its centrality in the field of Israeli culture. Among its various branches are Asi Dayan, Jonathan and Aviv Geffen, Ilana Dayan, Lior Dayan and more. From the ranks of the family came journalists, writers, sculptors, singers and first-rate actors. But no less prominent is the family's contribution to Israeli politics.

Shmuel Dayan, one of the symbols of the second aliyah, worked in the old colonies until, together with other members, he established the first workers' moshav, Nahalal.

Meanwhile, together with David Ben-Gurion, he was one of the founders of Mapai, and served on its behalf in the Knesset for the first decade as one of the most prominent representatives of the working class settlement. Who was less loyal to the party than the previous generation and even retired twice from the party: for the first time for Ben-Gurion for the purpose of establishing Rafi, and in the 1970s for membership in the Begin government.

Decades of cumulative tenure of family representatives.

Moshe and Yael Dayan (Photo: National Photo Collection)

Dayan's death in 1981 put an end to 31 consecutive years of representation of the Dayan family in the Knesset, but a little more than ten years later, in July 1992, the third generation of the family's representative, MK Yael Dayan, was sworn in as a Member of Knesset. Of the Labor Party, and dealt with matters of security, peace and settlement - Yael Dayan, who was also sworn in on behalf of the party, dealt with women's rights and the LGBT and was the initiator of the law for the prevention of sexual harassment.

Yael Dayan may have ended her term in the Knesset in 2003, but the family did not say the last word.

Another grandson of former Knesset member Shmuel Dayan, Major General Uzi Dayan, emerged from the right wing of the political system and served as a Likud MK in 2019 and between the years 2020-2021.

Representatives of other branches of the Dayan family who served in the Mishkan were MK Yigal Horowitz (nephew of Shmuel Dayan) and Ezer Weizmann (Moshe Dayan's brother-in-law). , And their fingerprints at the founding events of Israeli politics from its inception to the present day are well felt.

When the father saw two of his children swear allegiance

The Levi family is identified with Bin Shean, which symbolizes the change of guard in Israeli politics. David Levy, the first representative of the family in Israeli politics, was born in Morocco to a family blessed with children. In the late 1950s, the family immigrated to Israel and was sent to Beit She'an. In view of the severe distress, David Levy engaged in occasional work as a laborer in agriculture and construction, and at the same time became a prominent figure in the struggle against the deprivation of the locals, and joined the Herut movement. In November 1969, Levy was elected to the Knesset by the Gahal Liberals (Gush Herut Liberal) faction and served in a number of executive positions, from Minister of Absorption to Deputy Prime Minister, leading social projects such as the Neighborhood Rehabilitation Project that alleviated distress in development towns and distressed neighborhoods. The Gesher party in 1995 was also joined by his brother Maxim who was mayor of Lod and served alongside him for six years.

David Levy himself ended his political activity in 2006, after 36 consecutive years in office.

However, it was only three years before he once again represented the Levy family in the Knesset - his youngest daughter Orly Levy Abacis, who was elected by the Yisrael Beiteinu faction.

She has continued to serve in the Knesset continuously ever since, joining various parties - until she finally returned to her father's political home as a Likud MK.

"Politics flows in the blood", Knesset Speaker Miki Levy (Photo: screenshot, Knesset channel)

The family's dominant political gene also influenced Orly's older brother, Jackie Levy. Jackie, the mayor of Beit She'an, decided to try his hand in the national political arena and was elected to the Knesset on behalf of the Likud, and so, at the inauguration of the 20th Knesset, David Levy sat in the podium and saw two of his children swear allegiance. In all, members of the Levy family served on its branches in the Knesset for a total of 56 years.

Apart from them, there are dozens of other family members whose political path began, continued and intersected in the Knesset over the years. A survey by the Knesset website found three married couples, two divorced couples, 30 parents and their children, six pairs of brothers and sisters, 13 pairs of in-laws and two in-laws, two pairs of grandparents, six pairs of cousins, 15 pairs of brothers-in-law and nine pairs of uncles and nephews.

Knesset Speaker MK Miki Levy congratulated Knesset members and their families on Family Day.

"Those who want to be elected by the public do so in most cases out of a sense of mission," Levy said.

"When we see so many family connections, then we understand that politics is flowing in the blood - and the families of the Knesset members want to continue to shape the face of democracy and Israeli society."

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