Likud's philosophy is based on the expansionist objectives of Zionist leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky (1880-1940), founder of Irgun, the terrorist organization that fought the British, then Arabs, for Jews' right to a land in what was then Palestine.
In 1925, Jabostinky founded the Revisionist Party, so-called because the party aimed to reverse Britain's decision in 1922 to detach Trans-Jordan from the British Mandate over Palestine and reassert Jabotinsky's vision of a "Greater Israel." As historian Benny Morris wrote, the Revisionists "contined to dream of conquering Transjordan down to the 1950s and 1960s and some, even later; their slogan continued to be 'two banks to the Jordan: one is ours and the other too.'"
The Likud advocated for extending Israeli sovereignty to territories it conquered during the 1967 Six Day War, which in 1973 included Egypt's Sinai, Syria's Golan Heights, Jordan's West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The party still maintains Jews' claims to the West Bank and the Golan, although it is under Likud leaders that Israel agreed to withdraw from the Sinai following the 1978 Camp David agreement, and unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005.
The Likud's influence diminished significantly when more centrist members, led by the centrist-slouching Ariel Sharon, broke away to form the Kadima Party.
The Likud Party's leaders:
- Menachem Begin 1973-1982 (Prime Minister, 1977-1983)
- Yitzhak Shamir 1983-1992 (Prime Minuster, 1983-84, 1986-92)
- Benjamin Netanyahu 1993-1999 (Prime Minister, 1996-99)
- Ariel Sharon 1999-2005 (Prime Minister, 2001-05)
- Benjamin Netanyahu 2005-present
