Israeli legislative election, 1965
Encyclopedia
Elections
for the sixth Knesset were held in Israel
on 1 November 1965. Voter turnout was 85.9%.
and Ahdut HaAvoda
united to form the Alignment
, whilst Herut
and the Liberal Party
had formed the Gahal
alliance towards the end of the previous Knesset session
. However, both Mapai and the Liberal Party had been hit by breakaway factions, the Ben-Gurion led Rafi and the Independent Liberals
(largely composed of former Progressive Party
members) respectively.
The communist Maki
had also experienced a split earlier in the year, with most of its Arab members and some Jewish members breaking away to establish Rakah.
A new Mapai
-affiliated Arab party, Cooperation and Brotherhood
was formed to contest the election, whilst the Arab Socialist List was prevented from running by the Central Elections Committee
due to its links with the banned al-Ard
organisation. Peace activist Abie Nathan
entered a party list, Nes.
¹ Rafi, Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda merged into the Labor Party in 1968, although David Ben-Gurion
(Rafi) became an independent.. In 1969 the Labor Party formed an alliance with Mapam also named the Alignment. In addition, Yizhar Harari
left the Independent Liberals to join the Alignment.
² Four MKs broke away from Gahal to establish the Free Centre
³ Progress and Development and Cooperation and Brotherhood merged to form Cooperation and Development
, which then broke up into the two original parties, the Druze Party
and Jewish-Arab Brotherhood
, each with a single seat.
's Alignment forming the thirteenth government
on 12 January 1966. His coalition included the National Religious Party, Mapam, the Independent Liberals, Poalei Agudat Yisrael, Progress and Development and Cooperation and Brotherhood, and had eighteen ministers. Kadish Luz
of the Alignment retained his position as Knesset Speaker. At the end of August, 1966 the new Knesset
at Givat Ram
in Jerusalem was opened. When the Six-Day War
broke out on 5 June, 1967, Gahal and Rafi joined the coalition to form a national unity government
with 21 ministers. The government was ended by Eshkol's death on 26 February, 1969.
Golda Meir
of the Alignment formed the fourteenth government
, also a national unity government, on 17 March 1969. The coalition partners were Gahal, the National Religious Party, the Independent Liberals, Progress and Development and Cooperation and Brotherhood.
The sixth Knesset is notable for being the only one in which a party has ever held a majority of the seats by itself. By the end of the session, the merger of Mapam and Rafi into the Alignment left it with 63 seats (53% of the total). Although the party came close to equalling the feat in the 1969 elections
, when it won 56 seats (which is still the best electoral performance on record), no party has managed it since.
Elections in Israel
Elections in Israel are based on nationwide proportional representation. The electoral threshold is currently set at 2%, with the number of seats a party receives in the Knesset being proportional to the number of votes it receives. The Knesset is elected for a four-year term, although most...
for the sixth Knesset 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 1 November 1965. Voter turnout was 85.9%.
Background
Prior to the elections, two major alliances were formed; MapaiMapai
Mapai was a left-wing political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in 1968...
and Ahdut HaAvoda
Ahdut HaAvoda
Ahdut HaAvoda was the name used by a sequence of political parties that existed firstly during Mandate Palestine and later in Israel. Its original version, led by David Ben-Gurion, is one of the main ancestors of the modern-day Israeli Labor Party....
united to form the Alignment
Alignment (political party)
The Alignment was an alliance of the major left-wing parties in Israel between the 1960s and 1990s. It was established in 1965 as an alliance of Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda but was dissolved three years later when the two parties and Rafi formally merged into the Israeli Labor Party...
, whilst Herut
Herut
Herut was the major right-wing political party in Israel from the 1940s until its formal merger into Likud in 1988, and an adherent of Revisionist Zionism.-History:...
and the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (Israel)
The Israeli Liberal Party was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Likud.-History:The Liberal Party was formed on 8 May 1961, towards the end of the fourth Knesset, by a merger of the General Zionists and the Progressive Party, with the new party having 14...
had formed the Gahal
Gahal
Gahal , lit. Herut-Liberals Bloc) was the major right-wing political faction in Israel led by Menachem Begin from its founding in 1965 until it merged into Likud in 1973.-Background:...
alliance towards the end of the previous Knesset session
Israeli legislative election, 1961
Elections for the fifth Knesset were held in Israel on 15 August 1961. Voter turnout was 81.6%.-Results:¹ Eight MKs broke away from Mapai to establish Rafi² Herut and the Liberal Party merged to form Gahal...
. However, both Mapai and the Liberal Party had been hit by breakaway factions, the Ben-Gurion led Rafi and the Independent Liberals
Independent Liberals (Israel)
The Independent Liberals were a political party in Israel between the 1960s and 1980s.-History:The Independent Liberals party was formed during the fifth Knesset in the aftermath of the merger of the Liberal Party and Herut. Seven of the 17 Liberal Party MKs led by former Minister of Justice,...
(largely composed of former Progressive Party
Progressive Party (Israel)
The Progressive Party was a political party in Israel.-History:The Progressive Party was a liberal party, most of whose founders came from the ranks of the New Aliyah Party and HaOved HaTzioni, which had been active prior to independence...
members) respectively.
The communist Maki
Maki (historical political party)
Maki was a communist political party in Israel. It is not the same party as the modern day Maki, which split from it during the 1960s and later assumed its name.-History:...
had also experienced a split earlier in the year, with most of its Arab members and some Jewish members breaking away to establish Rakah.
A new Mapai
Mapai
Mapai was a left-wing political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in 1968...
-affiliated Arab party, Cooperation and Brotherhood
Cooperation and Brotherhood
Cooperation and Brotherhood was a political party in Israel.-History:Cooperation and Brotherhood was an Israeli Arab organisation formed to participate in the 1959 elections...
was formed to contest the election, whilst the Arab Socialist List was prevented from running by the Central Elections Committee
Israeli Central Elections Committee
The Israeli Central Elections Committee is the body charged under the Knesset Elections Law of 1969 to carry out the elections for the upcoming Knesset. The committee is composed of Knesset members representating various parliamentary groups and is chaired by a Supreme Court Justice...
due to its links with the banned al-Ard
Al-Ard
Al-Ard was a political movement made up of Arab citizens of Israel active between 1958 and some time in the 1970s. It was the first Arab dissident group of significance to emerge from within Israel that managed to attract the attention of parallel Palestinian nationalist movements outside...
organisation. Peace activist Abie Nathan
Abie Nathan
Avraham "Abie" Nathan was an Israeli humanitarian and peace activist, perhaps best known as the founder of the Voice of Peace radio station.-Early years:...
entered a party list, Nes.
Results
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alignment Alignment (political party) The Alignment was an alliance of the major left-wing parties in Israel between the 1960s and 1990s. It was established in 1965 as an alliance of Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda but was dissolved three years later when the two parties and Rafi formally merged into the Israeli Labor Party... ¹ |
443,379 | 36.7 | 45 | |
| Gahal Gahal Gahal , lit. Herut-Liberals Bloc) was the major right-wing political faction in Israel led by Menachem Begin from its founding in 1965 until it merged into Likud in 1973.-Background:... ² |
256,957 | 21.3 | 26 | |
| 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... |
107,966 | 8.9 | 11 | |
| Rafi ¹ | 95,328 | 7.9 | 10 | New |
| Mapam Mapam Mapam was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.-History:Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party and Ahdut HaAvoda Poale Zion Movement. The party was originally Marxist-Zionist in its outlook and represented... ¹ |
79,985 | 6.6 | 8 | |
| Independent Liberals Independent Liberals (Israel) The Independent Liberals were a political party in Israel between the 1960s and 1980s.-History:The Independent Liberals party was formed during the fifth Knesset in the aftermath of the merger of the Liberal Party and Herut. Seven of the 17 Liberal Party MKs led by former Minister of Justice,... ¹ |
45,299 | 3.8 | 5 | New |
| Agudat Yisrael | 39,795 | 3.3 | 4 | 0 |
| Rakah | 27,413 | 2.3 | 3 | New |
| Progress and Development Progress and Development Progress and Development was a political party in Israel.-History:Progress and Development was an Israeli Arab organisation formed to fight the 1959 elections... ³ |
23,430 | 1.9 | 2 | 0 |
| Poalei Agudat Yisrael | 22,066 | 1.8 | 2 | 0 |
| Cooperation and Brotherhood Cooperation and Brotherhood Cooperation and Brotherhood was a political party in Israel.-History:Cooperation and Brotherhood was an Israeli Arab organisation formed to participate in the 1959 elections... ³ |
16,464 | 1.3 | 2 | 0 |
| HaOlam HaZeh – Koah Hadash Meri (political party) Meri , lit. Israeli Radical Camp) was a small radical left-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in the 1960s as HaOlam HaZeh – Koah Hadash by Uri Avnery, editor of HaOlam HaZeh.-History:... |
14,124 | 1.2 | 1 | New |
| Maki Maki (historical political party) Maki was a communist political party in Israel. It is not the same party as the modern day Maki, which split from it during the 1960s and later assumed its name.-History:... |
13,617 | 1.1 | 1 | |
| Movement for Brotherhood | 11,244 | 0.9 | 0 | New |
| Peace List | 5,536 | 0.5 | 0 | New |
| Nes | 2,135 | 0.2 | 0 | New |
| Young Israel | 1,990 | 0.2 | 0 | New |
| Invalid/blank votes | 37,978 | |||
| Total | 1,244,706 | 100 | 120 | 0 |
| Source: Nohlen et al | ||||
¹ Rafi, Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda merged into the Labor Party in 1968, although David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion
' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...
(Rafi) became an independent.. In 1969 the Labor Party formed an alliance with Mapam also named the Alignment. In addition, Yizhar Harari
Yizhar Harari
-Biography:Harari was born in Jaffa, then under Ottoman rule. He studied political science and journalism at the University of Paris and then law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and economics and political science in London, and was certified as a lawyer. In 1933, he worked as a journalist...
left the Independent Liberals to join the Alignment.
² Four MKs broke away from Gahal to establish the Free Centre
Free Centre
The Free Centre was a political party in Israel, and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Likud.-Background:The party was created on 29 March 1967 during the sixth Knesset when Shmuel Tamir led a breakaway of three Herut members after a leadership dispute with Menachem Begin...
³ Progress and Development and Cooperation and Brotherhood merged to form Cooperation and Development
Cooperation and Development
Cooperation and Development was a short-lived political party in Israel.-History:Cooperation and Development was established on 5 July 1966 during the sixth Knesset, when two of the three Israeli Arab parties, Cooperation and Brotherhood and Progress and Development, merged...
, which then broke up into the two original parties, the Druze Party
Druze Party
The Israeli Druze Faction was a short-lived, one-man political faction in Israel.-Background:The party was established on 11 April 1967 during the sixth Knesset, when Jabr Muadi left Cooperation and Brotherhood....
and Jewish-Arab Brotherhood
Jewish-Arab Brotherhood
Jewish-Arab Brotherhood was a short-lived, one-man political party in Israel.-Background:The party was formed on 22 October 1968 during the sixth Knesset, when Elias Nakhleh broke away from Progress and Development....
, each with a single seat.
The Sixth Knesset
The sixth Knesset started with Levi EshkolLevi Eshkol
' served as the third Prime Minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. He was the first Israeli Prime Minister to die in office.-Biography:...
's Alignment forming the thirteenth government
Thirteenth government of Israel
The thirteenth government of Israel was formed by Levi Eshkol on 12 January 1966, following the November 1965 elections. His coalition included the Alignment , the National Religious Party, Mapam, the Independent Liberals, Poalei Agudat Yisrael, Progress and Development and Cooperation and...
on 12 January 1966. His coalition included the National Religious Party, Mapam, the Independent Liberals, Poalei Agudat Yisrael, Progress and Development and Cooperation and Brotherhood, and had eighteen ministers. Kadish Luz
Kadish Luz
Kadish Luz was an Israeli politician who served as Minister of Agriculture between 1955 and 1959 and Speaker of the Knesset from 1959 and 1969.-Biography:...
of the Alignment retained his position as Knesset Speaker. At the end of August, 1966 the new Knesset
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...
at Givat Ram
Givat Ram
Givat Ram is a neighborhood in central Jerusalem, Israel. Many of Israel's most important national institutions are located in Givat Ram, among them the Knesset, the Israel Museum, the National Library of Israel and the Israeli Supreme Court.-Etymology:...
in Jerusalem was opened. When the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
broke out on 5 June, 1967, Gahal and Rafi joined the coalition to form a national unity government
National unity government
A national unity government, government of national unity, or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other national emergency.- Canada :During World War I the Conservative government of Sir...
with 21 ministers. The government was ended by Eshkol's death on 26 February, 1969.
Golda Meir
Golda Meir
Golda Meir ; May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978) was a teacher, kibbutznik and politician who became the fourth Prime Minister of the State of Israel....
of the Alignment formed the fourteenth government
Fourteenth government of Israel
The fourteenth government of Israel was formed by Golda Meir on 17 March 1969, following the death of Prime Minister Levi Eshkol on 26 February...
, also a national unity government, on 17 March 1969. The coalition partners were Gahal, the National Religious Party, the Independent Liberals, Progress and Development and Cooperation and Brotherhood.
The sixth Knesset is notable for being the only one in which a party has ever held a majority of the seats by itself. By the end of the session, the merger of Mapam and Rafi into the Alignment left it with 63 seats (53% of the total). Although the party came close to equalling the feat in the 1969 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1969
Elections for the seventh Knesset were held in Israel on 28 October 1969. Voter turnout was 81.7%.-Results:¹ Meir Avizohar defected from the National List to the Alignment² Avner Shaki left the National Religious Party and remained a single MK...
, when it won 56 seats (which is still the best electoral performance on record), no party has managed it since.