At the time of its foundation, in 1946, the party had around 10,000 members, two-thirds of whom hailed from the Kibbutz Artzi movement.

[1][2] The Hashomer Hatzair movement had positioned itself politically between the moderate mainstream Mapai and the radical communists since the 1920s.

[6] The Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party was the sole Zionist political organization in Palestine at the time that recognized the national rights of the Palestinian Arabs.

The party opposed partitioning Palestine, instead preferring converting the British Mandate into an international trusteeship.

[1] The party's newspaper was Al HaMishmar which subsequently transferred its affiliation to MAPAM.