The Alignment (Hebrew: המערך, romanized: HaMa'arakh) was the name of two political alliances in Israel, both of which ended their existence by merging, in January 1968 and October 1991, into the Israeli Labor Party.

The first incarnation of the Alignment, fully named the HaMa'arakh LeAhdut Poalei Eretz Yisrael (Hebrew: המערך לאחדות פועלי ארץ ישראל, lit.

Alignment for the Unity of the Workers of the Land of Israel), was an alliance of Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda formed to contest the 1965 Knesset election.

On 23 January 1968, Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda merged with Rafi to form the Israeli Labor Party, with the Alignment ceasing to exist.

Although Israel later recovered the ground initially lost, the war was generally considered to be a failure, and the government faced significant criticism.

However, ten days after the Agranat Commission published its findings on 1 April 1974, Meir resigned, despite the report clearing her and her Defence Minister, Moshe Dayan, of all responsibility.

Mapam broke away, as did Progress and Development and the Arab List for Bedouins and Villagers, who had both come under the Alignment umbrella during Rabin's tenure.

Shortly before the election, the Alignment party suffered another major blow when Rabin announced that US President Jimmy Carter supported the Israeli idea of defensive borders.

[3] Peres led the party into the 1977 elections, which proved to be a historical turning point in Israeli political history: For the first time the left-wing were defeated.

Begin was able to form a right-wing coalition with Shlomtzion (which quickly merged into Likud), the National Religious Party, Agudat Israel, and Dash.

Further embarrassment for the Alignment was brought about as Begin offered Moshe Dayan the position of Foreign Minister despite his party not being in the coalition.

This was necessary as many Likud MKs had broken away to form opposition parties (One Israel, Rafi – National List, Tehiya and Yosef Tamir as an independent) and several others (including Ariel Sharon and Yitzhak Shamir) abstained from voting on it.

Despite losing Dayan, the party picked up two more seats as former Dash MKs Meir Amit and David Golomb defected from Shinui.

Another power-sharing arrangement was made, and the coalition again had 97 members, consisting of Likud, the Alignment, the National Religious Party, Shas, Agudat Israel and Degel HaTorah.

However, in 1990 Peres made a bid for sole power through the creation of a narrow 61-seat coalition with the Ultra-orthodox parties Shas, Agudat Israel and Degel HaTorah and the left-wing Mapam, Ratz and Shinui.

The party also lost one MK, Efraim Gur, who left and set up Unity for Peace and Immigration before joining Likud.