During the first years of the state, great amounts of money were poured into it through one door, while hundreds of thousands of immigrants were pouring in through another. Jobs had to be provided quickly. Factories were set up indiscriminately, generally without much attention to their profit potential. While some investments have proved sound, others have not. Great parts of the economy are continually dependent on new subsidies administered by the government, thus giving the government decisive economic powers.

The political parties, controlling the government, participate in this power, with Mapai retaining the lion's share but all the others getting a part of it. If a party is well organized, it will use the benefits it receives from the government, the Jewish Agency, the municipalities, and the Histadruth, as well as the profits of its own economic enterprises, in order to gain votes by well-financed propaganda and the provision of jobs. If it wins an election victory, which means gaining a few additional seats in parliament, it may trade in this gain for new economic benefits when the new government coalition is formed. Another circle.

At the center of power stands Mapai, controlling the important ministries in the government and the other key posts in the state from the President of Israel to the general secretary of the Histadruth, and the mayors of all important cities. With little more than a third of the vote, it was in complete control of political life, even before it was rejoined by the Rafi and Achdut-Haavada parties and became the Israel Labor Party in January 1968. No one could possibly become Prime Minister without being nominated by the Mapai Secretariat. Moshe Dayan, therefore, had no chance at all to succeed Eshkol before he rejoined the Mapai party. He knew this well, which explains his ardent support for the return of the Rafi party to its mother's lap, even against the violent opposition of his former mentor, Ben-Gurion. No one could

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