---
category: Foreign Government
end: 1968
location: Tel Aviv, Israel
start: 1930
summary: Mapai (Israel Workers' Party) was the dominant political party in Israel
  from the state's founding through 1968, whose total control under David Ben-Gurion
  shaped Israeli nuclear policy and whose internal disputes over the Lavon Affair
  permanently split the party.
tags:
- Organization
- Political Party
- Israel
---

Mapai (Israel Workers') Party was the dominant political party in [Israel](/places/israel/) for many years. Its political control under [David Ben-Gurion](/people/david-ben-gurion/) was total, akin to that of a Mafia don. Ben-Gurion's influence ensured that the government left behind after his retirement in late 1953 was of his own creation, with his jointly held positions of prime minister and defense minister being separated and filled by his chosen successors, [Moshe Sharett](/people/moshe-sharett/) and [Pinhas Lavon](/people/pinhas-lavon/).[^1]

Many senior members of the Mapai Party viewed an Israeli nuclear bomb as suicidal, too expensive, and too reminiscent of the horrors inflicted on Jews in World War II. This led to a bitter fight within the Israeli government over the nuclear weapons program, championed by [David Ben-Gurion](/people/david-ben-gurion/), [Shimon Peres](/people/shimon-peres/), and [Ernst David Bergmann](/people/ernst-david-bergmann/).[^1]

National elections in the summer of 1955 eroded the Mapai plurality in the Knesset, providing more evidence that the Israeli public was dissatisfied with the dovish policies of [Moshe Sharett](/people/moshe-sharett/).[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 2, 3.