Israel legislative election, 2003
Encyclopedia
Elections for the 16th Knesset
were held in Israel
on 28 January 2003. The result was a resounding victory for Ariel Sharon
's Likud
.
The previous separate election for Prime Minister
was scrapped, and the post was returned to the leader of the party successfully forming the working coalition government.
1 Yisrael BaAliyah merged into Likud
2 Fourteen MKs left Likud to establish Kadima
.
3 One MK left One Nation to establish Noy
, before joining Likud. One Nation then merged into Labour.
4 Eleven MKs left Shinui to establish the Secular Faction
, whilst one left to establish HaOlim, which merged into the National Union. Two MKs left the Secular Faction to establish National Home
.
5 Yisrael Beiteinu left the National Union.
6 Two MKs left the National Religious Party to establish the Renewed Religious National Zionist Party.
7 United Torah Judaism split into Agudat Yisrael (three seats) and Degel HaTorah
(two seats).
8 Ta'al (one seat) broke away from Hadash.
formed the 30th government on 28 February 2003. His coalition initially included just Shinui and the National Union (Israel BaAliya had merged into Likud soon after the election), though the National Religious Party joined the government on 3 March.
Sharon's decision to implement the Gaza disengagement plan
led to the National Union and the National Religious Party leaving the coalition during June and November 2004 respectively. Shinui left the government in December 2004 following disagreements over the budget.
Labour-Meimad joined the coalition in January 2005, with Agudat Israel added to the government in March 2005. Labour-Meimad later pulled out in November that year, the same month in which Sharon led a breakaway from Likud to form Kadima. Likud left the coalition in January 2006. Following Sharon's stroke, Ehud Olmert
took over as Acting Prime Minister.
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
were held in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
on 28 January 2003. The result was a resounding victory for Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
's Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
.
The previous separate election for Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Israel
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
was scrapped, and the post was returned to the leader of the party successfully forming the working coalition government.
Results
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Likud Likud Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had... 1 2 3 |
925,279 | 29.39 | 38 | |
| Labor-Meimad Meimad Meimad is a left-wing religious Zionist political party in Israel. Founded in 1999, it is based on the ideology of the Meimad movement founded in 1988 by Rabbi Yehuda Amital. At the national level, it was in alliance with the Labour Party, and until the 2006 elections, received 10th spot on the... 3 |
455,183 | 14.46 | 19 | |
| Shinui Shinui Shinui is a Zionist, secular and anti-clerical free market liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a split and collapse; in 1977 the party won 15 seats as part of the Democratic Movement for... 4 |
386,535 | 12.28 | 15 | |
| Shas Shas Shas is an ultra-orthodox religious political party in Israel, primarily representing Sephardic and Mizrahi Haredi Judaism.Shas was founded in 1984 by dissident members of the Ashkenazi dominated Agudat Israel, to represent the interests of religiously observant Sephardic and Mizrahi ... |
258,879 | 8.22 | 11 | |
| National Union National Union (Israel) The National Union is an alliance of nationalist political parties in Israel. In the 2009 elections the National Union consisted of four parties: Moledet, Hatikva, Eretz Yisrael Shelanu, and Tkuma.-Background:... 4 5 |
173,973 | 5.52 | 7 | |
| Meretz-Yachad Meretz-Yachad New Movement-Meretz , previously known as Meretz, then Yachad, and then Meretz-Yachad is a left-wing, Zionist, social democratic political party in Israel.... and the Democratic Choice Democratic Choice The Democratic Choice was a minor political party in Israel headed by Roman Bronfman.-Background:The party was formed in July 1999 during the 15th Knesset when Roman Bronfman and Alexander Tzinker broke away from Yisrael BaAliyah... |
164,122 | 5.21 | 6 | |
| National Religious Party National Religious Party The National Religious Party ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist movement. Formed in 1956, at the time of its dissolution in 2008, it was the second oldest surviving party in the country after Agudat Yisrael, and was part of every government coalition until 1992... 6 |
132,370 | 4.20 | 6 | |
| United Torah Judaism United Torah Judaism United Torah Judaism is an alliance of Degel HaTorah and Agudat Israel, two small Israeli Haredi political parties in the Knesset. It was first formed in 1992.The two parties have not always agreed with each other about policy matters... 7 |
135,087 | 4.29 | 5 | 0 |
| Hadash Hadash Hadash is a Jewish and Arab socialist front of organizations that runs for the Israeli parliament. It currently has four members in the 120-seat Knesset.-Background:... -Ta'al Ta'al Ta'al is an Israeli Arab political party in Israel led by Ahmad Tibi.-History:Ta'al was founded by Tibi in the mid 1990s. It ran in the 1996 elections under the name Arab Union, but won only 2,087 votes . For the 1999 elections it ran as part of the Balad list. Tibi won a seat, and broke away from... 8 |
93,819 | 2.98 | 3 | 0 |
| One Nation 3 | 86,808 | 2.76 | 3 | |
| Balad | 71,299 | 2.26 | 3 | |
| Yisrael BaAliyah 1 | 67,719 | 2.15 | 2 | |
| United Arab List United Arab List The United Arab List , commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acronym Ra'am , is a political party representing and supported by Israeli Arabs... |
65,551 | 2.08 | 2 | |
| Ale Yarok Ale Yarok Ale Yarok is a small and liberal political party in Israel best known for its ideology of decriminalizing cannabis, human rights and environmental activism... |
37,855 | 1.20 | 0 | 0 |
| Herut – The National Movement | 36,202 | 1.15 | 0 | New |
| Progressive National Alliance Progressive National Alliance The Progressive National Alliance , originally known as National Unity – National Progressive Alliance , was a small Israeli Arab political party in Israel in the early 21st century.-Background:... |
20,571 | 0.65 | 0 | New |
| The Greens The Greens (Israel) The Greens is a minor political party in Israel currently headed by Pe'er Visner. Although the party is currently not represented in the Knesset, it does hold seats in 22 municipalities across Israel.-History:... |
12,833 | 0.41 | 0 | 0 |
| Yisrael Aheret | 7,144 | 0.23 | 0 | New |
| Ahavat Yisrael | 5,468 | 0.17 | 0 | New |
| Tzomet Tzomet Tzomet is a small secular, right-wing political party in Israel.-Ideology:The party was the one who first brought the "peace for peace" slogan, which today is used by all Israeli right wing parties and movements... |
2,023 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 |
| Centre Party Centre Party (Israel) The Centre Party , originally known as Israel in the Centre, was a short-lived political party in Israel. Formed in 1999 by former Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai, the aim was to create a group of moderates to challenge both Binyamin Netanyahu on the right and opposition leader Ehud Barak's... |
1,961 | 0.06 | 0 | |
| Organization for Democratic Action Organization for Democratic Action The Organisation for Democratic Action is a political party in Israel, where it is commonly known by the acronym, Da'am .-Name:The party has slightly different names in Arabic and Hebrew... |
1,925 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 |
| Citizen and State Hetz (political party) Hetz was a secularist political party in Israel.-Background and ideology:Hetz was formed in the aftermath of the breakup of Shinui towards the end of the 16th Knesset... |
1,566 | 0.05 | 0 | New |
| Man's Rights in the Family Party | 1,284 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 |
| Lahava | 1,181 | 0.04 | 0 | New |
| Za'am | 894 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| Leeder | 833 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| Total | 3,148,364 | 100 | 120 | 0 |
1 Yisrael BaAliyah merged into Likud
2 Fourteen MKs left Likud to establish Kadima
Kadima
Kadima is a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely to support the issue of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and was soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians...
.
3 One MK left One Nation to establish Noy
Noy
Noy was a short-lived one-man political faction in Israel created by David Tal.-Background:Noy was established by Haredi Knesset member David Tal on 23 May 2005...
, before joining Likud. One Nation then merged into Labour.
4 Eleven MKs left Shinui to establish the Secular Faction
Hetz (political party)
Hetz was a secularist political party in Israel.-Background and ideology:Hetz was formed in the aftermath of the breakup of Shinui towards the end of the 16th Knesset...
, whilst one left to establish HaOlim, which merged into the National Union. Two MKs left the Secular Faction to establish National Home
National Home
National Home was a short-lived political faction in Israel during 2006.-Background:National Home was formed on 5 February 2006 when two MKs, Hemi Doron and Eliezer Sandberg broke away from the Secular Faction...
.
5 Yisrael Beiteinu left the National Union.
6 Two MKs left the National Religious Party to establish the Renewed Religious National Zionist Party.
7 United Torah Judaism split into Agudat Yisrael (three seats) and Degel HaTorah
Degel HaTorah
Degel HaTorah is an Ashkenazi Haredi political party in Israel. For much of its existence it has been allied to Agudat Yisrael under the name United Torah Judaism.-Ideology:...
(two seats).
8 Ta'al (one seat) broke away from Hadash.
The Sixteenth Knesset
Ariel SharonAriel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
formed the 30th government on 28 February 2003. His coalition initially included just Shinui and the National Union (Israel BaAliya had merged into Likud soon after the election), though the National Religious Party joined the government on 3 March.
Sharon's decision to implement the Gaza disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut", was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from...
led to the National Union and the National Religious Party leaving the coalition during June and November 2004 respectively. Shinui left the government in December 2004 following disagreements over the budget.
Labour-Meimad joined the coalition in January 2005, with Agudat Israel added to the government in March 2005. Labour-Meimad later pulled out in November that year, the same month in which Sharon led a breakaway from Likud to form Kadima. Likud left the coalition in January 2006. Following Sharon's stroke, Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003....
took over as Acting Prime Minister.
External links
- Historical overview of the Sixteenth Knesset Knesset website
- Factional and Government Make-Up of the Sixteenth Knesset Knesset website
- Election Polls from the Official Israeli Media
- The elections in Israel, 2003 By Alan Arian, Asher Arian, Michal Shamir