Glossary - Israel: An Introduction - page 334

Magav — Border Police, the military branch of the police force. The Magav deals with counterterrorism
and riot control.
Mapai — The Workers' Party of the Land of Israel, the Zionist socialist political party founded in 1930.
Dominant from the Yishuv period until 1977, it merged with Ahdut HaAvoda and Rafi to form the
Labor Party in 1968.
Mapam — United Workers' Party, the Marxist-Zionist party of Labor Zionism formed in 1948. Initially
the second-largest party in the Knesset, its popularity continually declined, and it merged with
Shinui and Ratz in 1992 to form the Meretz Party.
Meimad — A liberal religious party that is close to the Labor Party on security issues.
Meretz — A left-wing Zionist political party that advocates separation of religion and state along with
concessions to the Palestinians. Formed in 1992 from the Ratz, Shinui, and Mapam parties, it de-
clined in popularity with the failure of the peace process, dropping from a high of twelve seats in
the Knesset in 1992 to a low of three by 2009.
Mizrahi (plural: Mizrahim)— Literally, “Eastern”; refers to Jews and Jewish customs and culture of Mid-
dle Eastern and North African origin.
Moshav (plural: moshavim)— Cooperative agricultural community.
Mossad — The organization responsible for foreign intelligence gathering, comparable to the U.S. Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency (CIA).
National Religious Party (NRP, Mafdal)— A Modern Orthodox (Dati), Zionist political party estab-
lished in 1956 that served in every government coalition until 1992. Its popularity began declining
in the 1980s, and it ceased to exist as an independent entity in 2008, when it joined with Tkuma to
form the right-wing nationalist Jewish Home Party.
National Union — An alliance of several small religious right-wing nationalist parties opposed to territo-
rial compromise formed in 1999 by a merger of Moledet, Herut, and Tkuma.
Negev — The desert region of southern Israel.
Operation Defensive Shield — The Israel Defense Forces offensive in March and April 2002 against the
Second Intifada. See also Intifada.
Operation Peace for Galilee — The Israel Defense Forces offensive against the PLO in Lebanon in 1982,
also called the Lebanon War and later the First Lebanon War.
Oslo Accords — The 1993 agreement, offi cially called the Declaration of Principles, between Israel and
the Palestine Liberation Organization outlining a process intended to lead toward full peace. It
culminated in failure in 2000.
Palestinian Authority (PA)— Body formed in 1994 to govern Palestinian-controlled areas of the West
Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)— The group formed in 1964 to lead the Palestinian national
movement. After 1969 it was led by Yasir Arafat and Fatah. It signed the Oslo Accords with Israel
in 1993. As a separate entity, it has declined in importance with the emergence of the Palestinian
Authority and later the death of Arafat.
Palestine Mandate, British Mandate for Palestine — The era of British rule in Palestine, under a League
of Nations mandate, from 1922 to 1948. The territory ruled for most of this period was that of
present-day Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. The original mandate, before 1922, also
included present-day Jordan and the Golan Heights.
Partition Plan — UN proposal of 1947 to divide British-ruled Palestine into Jewish and Arab states with
Jerusalem as an international city. It was accepted by the United Nations on November 29, 1947,
and by the Yishuv leaders but rejected by the Arab countries and the Palestinian Arabs.
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)— Nationalist, semi-Marxist Palestinian group
founded in 1967 and sponsored by Syria.
Progressive List for Peace (PLP)— The fi rst independent Arab party, established in 1984, which promptly
won two seats in the Knesset. It won only one seat in 1988, none in 1992, then dissolved.