Mapai political party, Israel

Politics and government

• Due to its role in emerging victorious and independent from the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the party won large support in Israel's first elections in 1949, winning 35.7% of the vote (well ahead of second-placed Mapam's 14.7%) and 46 of the 120 seats. Ben-Gurion became Prime Minister and formed a coalition with the United Religious Front, the Progressive Party, the Sephardim and Oriental Communities and the Democratic List of Nazareth (an Israeli Arab party associated with Mapai). A notable piece of legislation enacted during Mapai's first term in office was an educational law in 1949 which introduced compulsory schooling for all children between the ages of 5 to 14.Mapai's years in office also witnessed the passage of the National Insurance Act of 1953 and the Social Welfare Service Law of 1958, which authorised a broad range of social welfare programmes, including special allowances for large families, workers' compensation provisions, maternity insurance, and old age and survivors' pensions.