‘The Nir Coalition’ in 1959 and the Opposition Struggle against Mapai

Abstract

The article deals with the opposition’s success in electing a new Speaker of the Knesset who was not member of ruling party – Mapai. The Mapai Speaker of the Knesset, Yosef Sprinzak, had died in January 1959, and the natural candidate to replace him was Moshe Sharett, an honorable member of Mapai. Sharrett however, turned down the nomination, and the party leaders chose a pale political figure, MK Berl Locker, to run in his stead. As a result of this choice, Yochanan Bader of the Heruth Movement proposed a new candidate – MK Nachum Nir who was not a member of the Mapai party but of Ahdut Ha-Avodah. The vote took place in March 1959, and Nir won, marking the first time a non-Mapai figure was elected to a state position, a highly significant event in Israel’s political history.