Likud (,
translit. HaLikud, lit.
The Consolidation), officially the
Likud–National Liberal Movement, is the major
center-right political party in
Israel. A
secular party, it was founded in 1973 by
Menachem Begin in an alliance with several
right-wing and
liberal parties. Likud's landslide victory in the
1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had lost power. In addition, it was the first time in Israel that a right-wing party won the plurality of the votes. However, after ruling the country for most of the 1980s, the party lost the
Knesset election in 1992. Nevertheless, Likud's candidate
Benjamin Netanyahu did win the vote for
Prime Minister in
1996 and was given the task of forming a government after the
1996 elections. Netanyahu's government fell apart after a vote of no confidence, which led to elections being called in
1999 and Likud losing power to the
One Israel coalition led by
Ehud Barak.