Israeli legislative election, 1981
Encyclopedia
Elections
for the tenth Knesset were held in Israel
on 30 June 1981. Despite last minute polls suggesting a victory for Shimon Peres
's Alignment
, Menachem Begin
's Likud
won by just one seat. Voter turnout was 78.5%.
1 Two MKs defected from Likud to the Alignment.
2 Haim Drukman left the National Religious Party and sat as an independent MK.
3 Telem split into Ometz
and the Movement for the Renewal of Social Zionism
.
4 Ratz joined the Alignment but then broke away again.
5 Two MKs left the National Religious Party and formed Gesher – Zionist Religious Centre
before returning to the NRP two weeks later.
was formed by Menachem Begin
on 5 August 1981, including Likud, the National Religious Party, Agudat Yisrael, Tami and Telem, and had 17 ministers. Tehiya joined the coalition on 26 August, upping the total to 18 ministers. Likud's Menachem Savidor
was appointed Speaker of the Knesset. One of the government's first acts was to pass a bill annexing the Golan Heights. It also oversaw the Lebanon War
and the subsequent Sabra and Shatila massacre
, which resulted in Defence Minister Ariel Sharon
losing his job. The country was also hit by several economic crises, including the collapse of most of the banking sector and hyper-inflation. Meanwhile, the religious parties (NRP and Agudat Israel) managed to pass a law banning state airline El Al
from flying on Shabbat
.
Yitzhak Shamir
formed the twentieth government
on 10 October 1983 after Begin had resigned for health reasons. He included the same parties in his coalition, but with 20 ministers. The next elections
were held on 23 July 1984.
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 tenth 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 30 June 1981. Despite last minute polls suggesting a victory for Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres
GCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
's 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...
, Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
'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...
won by just one seat. Voter turnout was 78.5%.
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 |
718,941 | 37.1 | 48 | |
| 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 4 |
708,536 | 36.6 | 47 | |
| 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... 2 5 |
95,232 | 4.9 | 6 | |
| Agudat Yisrael | 72,312 | 3.7 | 4 | 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:... |
64,918 | 3.4 | 4 | |
| Tehiya Tehiya Tehiya , originally known as Banai , then Tehiya-Bnai , was a small right-wing political party in Israel that existed from 1979 until 1992... |
44,700 | 2.3 | 3 | New |
| Tami Tami Tami was a Mizrahi-dominated political party in Israel during the 1980s. It was led by Aharon Abuhatzira for its entire existence.-Background:... |
44,466 | 2.3 | 3 | New |
| Telem Telem (political party) Telem , lit. Movement for National Renewal) was a political party in Israel.-Background:Telem was formed on 19 May 1981 during the ninth Knesset by Moshe Dayan and two ex-Likud MKs. Dayan had been elected to the Knesset as an MK for the Alignment, which had lost the election for the first time in... 3 |
30,600 | 1.6 | 2 | New |
| 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... |
29,837 | 1.5 | 2 | New |
| Ratz 4 | 27,921 | 1.4 | 1 | 0 |
| Poalei Agudat Yisrael | 17,090 | 0.9 | 0 | |
| Independent Liberals | 11,764 | 0.6 | 0 | |
| United Arab List United Arab List (1977) The United Arab List was an Israeli Arab political party in Israel during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is not connected to the modern day United Arab List.-Background:... |
11,590 | 0.6 | 0 | |
| Development and Peace | 10,823 | 0.6 | 0 | |
| Left Camp of Israel Left Camp of Israel The Left Camp of Israel was a left-wing political party in Israel. It was also known as Sheli , an acronym for Peace for Israel .-Background:... |
8,691 | 0.4 | 0 | |
| Arab Brotherhood List Haneh Hadad Haneh Hadad is an Israeli Arab former police officer and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party between 1995 and 1996.-Biography:Born in Jish in 1919, Hadad received a high school education, before joining the police force... |
8,304 | 0.4 | 0 | New |
| List for Aliyah | 6,992 | 0.4 | 0 | New |
| Kach Kach and Kahane Chai Kach was a far-right political party in Israel. Founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane in the early 1970s, and following his Jewish nationalist ideology , the party entered the Knesset in 1984 after several electoral failures... |
5,128 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Independence | 4,710 | 0.2 | 0 | New |
| One Israel One Israel (1980) One Israel was a short-lived, one-man political party in Israel led by Yitzhak Yitzhaky.-Background:The formation of One Israel during the ninth Knesset was largely precipitated by Menachem Begin's controversial decision to sign the Camp David Accords and the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty despite... |
3,726 | 0.2 | 0 | New |
| Arab Citizens' List | 2,596 | 0.1 | 0 | New |
| Pensioners' List | 2,404 | 0.1 | 0 | New |
| Unity Party Unity Party (Israel) The Unity Party , officially the Unity Party for the Advancement and Education of the Society in Israel and originally known as Equality in Israel – Panthers was a short-lived political party in... |
1,293 | 0.1 | 0 | New |
| Ya'ad Ya'ad (political party) Ya'ad was a short-lived, one-man political party in Israel. It is not related to the other political party of the same name, Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement.-Background:... |
1,228 | 0.1 | 0 | New |
| Otzma | 839 | 0.0 | 0 | New |
| Tent Movement | 545 | 0.0 | 0 | New |
| Abolish Income Tax | 503 | 0.0 | 0 | New |
| Amkha Victor Tayar -Biography:Born in Libya, Tayar made aliyah to Israel and settled in Jaffa.During the 1970s he was amongst the leaders of the Black Panthers. For the 1981 elections he headed a party called Amkha, but won only 460 votes. In the 1984 elections Amkha won 733 votes... |
460 | 0.0 | 0 | New |
| Youth Movement | 412 | 0.0 | 0 | New |
| Council to Rescue the Homeland | 405 | 0.0 | 0 | New |
| Initiative - Independents Movement | 400 | 0.0 | 0 | New |
| Invalid/blank votes | 17,243 | |||
| Total | 1,937,366 | 100 | 120 | 0 |
| Source: Nohlen et al | ||||
1 Two MKs defected from Likud to the Alignment.
2 Haim Drukman left the National Religious Party and sat as an independent MK.
3 Telem split into Ometz
Ometz (political party)
Ometz , originally Rafi – National List , then the National List was a small right-wing political party in Israel, which existed briefly in 1981, and then from 1983 until 1987...
and the Movement for the Renewal of Social Zionism
Movement for the Renewal of Social Zionism
The Movement for the Renewal of Social Zionism was a short-lived minor political party in Israel during the mid-1980s.-Background:The party was formed on 6 June 1983 by Minister without Portfolio Mordechai Ben-Porat following the break-up of Telem .However, the party failed to cross the electoral...
.
4 Ratz joined the Alignment but then broke away again.
5 Two MKs left the National Religious Party and formed Gesher – Zionist Religious Centre
Gesher – Zionist Religious Centre
Gesher – Zionist Religious Centre was a short-lived political faction in Israel in 1984.-Background:The faction was formed on 29 May 1984, during the 10th Knesset, when two MKs, Yehuda Ben-Meir and Zevulun Hammer, broke away from the National Religious Party...
before returning to the NRP two weeks later.
The Tenth Knesset
The nineteenth governmentNineteenth government of Israel
The Nineteenth government of Israel was formed by Menachem Begin on 5 August 1981, following the June elections. Begin included Likud, the National Religious Party, Agudat Yisrael, Tami and Telem in his coalition, which held 63 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, and the cabinet had 17 ministers...
was formed by Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
on 5 August 1981, including Likud, the National Religious Party, Agudat Yisrael, Tami and Telem, and had 17 ministers. Tehiya joined the coalition on 26 August, upping the total to 18 ministers. Likud's Menachem Savidor
Menachem Savidor
Menachen Savidor 20 August 1917 – 2 November 1988) was an Israeli civil servant and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud from 1977 until 1984...
was appointed Speaker of the Knesset. One of the government's first acts was to pass a bill annexing the Golan Heights. It also oversaw the Lebanon War
1982 Lebanon War
The 1982 Lebanon War , , called Operation Peace for Galilee by Israel, and later known in Israel as the Lebanon War and First Lebanon War, began on 6 June 1982, when the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon...
and the subsequent Sabra and Shatila massacre
Sabra and Shatila massacre
The Sabra and Shatila massacre took place in the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, Lebanon between September 16 and September 18, 1982, during the Lebanese civil war. Palestinian and Lebanese civilians were massacred in the camps by Christian Lebanese Phalangists while the camp...
, which resulted in Defence Minister 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....
losing his job. The country was also hit by several economic crises, including the collapse of most of the banking sector and hyper-inflation. Meanwhile, the religious parties (NRP and Agudat Israel) managed to pass a law banning state airline El Al
El Al
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd , trading as El Al , is the flag carrier of Israel. It operates scheduled domestic and international services and cargo flights to Europe, North America, Africa and the Far East from its main base in Ben Gurion International Airport...
from flying on Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
.
Yitzhak Shamir
Yitzhak Shamir
' is a former Israeli politician, the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, in 1983–84 and 1986–92.-Biography:Icchak Jeziernicky was born in Ruzhany , Russian Empire . He studied at a Hebrew High School in Białystok, Poland. As a youth he joined Betar, the Revisionist Zionist youth movement...
formed the twentieth government
Twentieth government of Israel
The twentieth government of Israel was formed by Yitzhak Shamir of Likud on 10 October 1983, following the resignation of Prime Minister Menachen Begin on 28 August....
on 10 October 1983 after Begin had resigned for health reasons. He included the same parties in his coalition, but with 20 ministers. The next elections
Israeli legislative election, 1984
Elections for the eleventh Knesset were held in Israel on 23 July 1984. Voter turnout was 78.8%. The results saw the Alignment return to being the largest party in the Knesset, a status it had lost in 1977...
were held on 23 July 1984.
External links
- Historical overview of the Tenth Knesset Knesset website
- Factional and Government Make-Up of the Tenth Knesset Knesset website