כָּלַנְתָּרִיזְם (kalantarism) — political party-switching for personal gain
Etymology
An eponym is a word derived from a person's name. Most eponyms in Hebrew, as in other languages, come borrowed from European languages — named after inventors (דִּיזֵל, from Rudolf Diesel), scientists (פַּסְטוּר, from Louis Pasteur), or historical figures (דְּרָקוֹנִי, from the Athenian lawgiver Dracon; קַרְדִּיגָן, from the Earl of Cardigan; לִינְץ׳, from Charles Lynch). Truly original Hebrew eponyms — words coined from Hebrew-context figures rather than borrowed — are exceptionally rare.
כָּלַנְתָּרִיזְם is one such rare original Hebrew eponym. It derives from the name of Rachamim Kantar (רַחֲמִים כַּנְתָּר), a member of the Jerusalem city council representing the faction Hapo'el HaMizrahi. In the summer of 1956, Kantar undermined his own faction's efforts to unseat Jerusalem's mayor Gershon Agron, and as a reward was appointed deputy mayor in charge of religious affairs and sanitation. The perceived opportunism — defecting from one's political alignment in exchange for a personal appointment — prompted journalists or commentators to coin the term כַּנְתָּרִיזְם, later rendered כָּלַנְתָּרִיזְם (with an l), meaning the practice of switching parties or factions to secure personal benefits.
The word illustrates the most productive Hebrew suffix for coining names of ideologies and political movements: -יזם, borrowed from European languages (German -ismus, French -isme, English -ism). While most -יזם words in Hebrew are borrowed wholesale (קַפִּיטָלִיזְם, סוֹצִיָּלִיזְם), כָּלַנְתָּרִיזְם demonstrates the suffix being applied productively to a native Israeli name.
The column in which this coinage appears is primarily a survey of eponyms in Hebrew — words derived from personal names — covering both borrowed eponyms (sádizt from the Marquis de Sade; mazochist from Leopold von Sacher-Masoch; draconian from Dracon; cardigan from the Earl of Cardigan; lynch from Charles Lynch) and plant-name eponyms (bougainvillea, fuchsia, plumeria). כָּלַנְתָּרִיזְם is cited as the exceptional case of a genuine original Hebrew eponym from a contemporary Israeli figure.
Key Quotes
"המונח הופיע הקיץ 1956 אחרי שחבר מועצת עיריית ירושלים רחמים כנתר הכשיל את מאמצי סיעתו ׳הפועל המזרחי׳ להדיח את ראש העיר גרשון אגרון ובתמורה מונה לסגן ראש העיר הממונה על ענייני דת ותברואה" — Elon Gilad
Timeline
- Summer 1956: Jerusalem city councilman Rachamim Kantar defects from his faction to support Mayor Gershon Agron and is rewarded with a deputy mayor appointment
- Summer 1956: The term כָּלַנְתָּרִיזְם coined by journalists to describe this behavior
- Subsequent decades: Term established in Israeli political vocabulary for opportunistic party-switching
Related Words
- אֶפּוֹנִים / אֶפּוֹנִימִי — eponym / eponymous; the category to which this word belongs
- דְּרָקוֹנִי — draconian; from Dracon, Athenian lawgiver; borrowed eponym attested in Hebrew from 1903
- לִינְץ׳ — to lynch; from Charles Lynch; borrowed eponym attested in Hebrew from 1885
- קַרְדִּיגָן — cardigan; from the Earl of Cardigan; borrowed eponym attested in Hebrew from 1927
- סָדִיסְט — sadist; from the Marquis de Sade; in Hebrew from 1911
- מָזוֹכִיסְט — masochist; from Leopold von Sacher-Masoch; in Hebrew from 1947