---
category: Foreign Government
end: 1968
location: Tel Aviv, Israel
start: 1965
summary: Rafi (Israel Workers' List) was an Israeli political party founded in June
  1965 by David Ben-Gurion after his resignation from Mapai, with Shimon Peres as
  its power broker and Moshe Dayan as a prominent member.
tags:
- Organization
- Political Party
- Israel
---

Rafi (an acronym for the Israel Workers' List) was a new political party created by [David Ben-Gurion](/people/david-ben-gurion/) in June 1965, after he dramatically resigned from the [Mapai Party](/organizations/mapai-party/). He was joined by [Shimon Peres](/people/shimon-peres/), who became Rafi's power broker, and [Moshe Dayan](/people/moshe-dayan/). Ben-Gurion's hope was that Rafi could capture a significant number of seats in the Knesset and emerge as a major power broker in Israeli politics.[^1]

Rafi became an opposition party, playing a role traditionally belonging to right-wing groups. While Ben-Gurion's immediate reason for splitting with Mapai leadership was his continued anger over the [Lavon Affair](/events/lavon-affair/), the Rafi Party, under Peres's leadership, advocated for a more aggressive position across defense issues, particularly on nuclear weapons. [Ernst David Bergmann](/people/ernst-david-bergmann/) was another founding member of Rafi and continued to influence Ben-Gurion regarding the dangers of not initiating the production of a nuclear arsenal.[^1]

The issue of nuclear weapons emerged as a dominant one in the 1965 elections, often discussed in coded language in Israeli newspapers. Rafi leaders criticized [Levi Eshkol](/people/levi-eshkol/)'s "big mistake," which was understood by many inside [Israel](/places/israel/) as referring to Eshkol's hesitations about opening a nuclear weapons assembly line at [Dimona](/places/dimona/).[^1]

However, Rafi and Ben-Gurion were disappointed by the election results, winning only ten seats in the Knesset, which was insufficient to provide Ben-Gurion with a power base. The election was interpreted as a brutal referendum on his dream of returning to power and marked the end of his role in the public policy of [Israel](/places/israel/).[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 9.