Israeli legislative election, 2009
Encyclopedia
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 10 February 2009. These elections became necessary due to the resignation of 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...
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....
as leader of the 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...
party, and the failure of his successor, Tzipi Livni
Tzipi Livni
Tzipporah Malkah "Tzipi" Livni is an Israeli lawyer and politician. She is the current Israeli Opposition Leader and leader of Kadima, the largest party in the Knesset. Raised an ardent nationalist, Livni has become one of her nation's leading voices for the two-state solution. In Israel she has...
, to form a coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
. Had Olmert remained in office or had Livni formed a coalition government, the elections would have been scheduled for 2010 instead.
Background
On 17 September 2008, Kadima held a leadership electionKadima leadership election, 2008
An election for the leadership of Kadima was held on 17 September 2008 as a concession to Kadima's coalition partner, Labour, which had threatened to bring down the government if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert didn't stand aside following police investigations into alleged corruption during his terms...
, which was won by Tzipi Livni. Following Livni's victory, former party leader Ehud Olmert (who did not run in the contest) resigned as Prime Minister. Livni was given six weeks to form a coalition, but set a deadline of 26 October for parties to agree to join the new government.
Although the Labor Party agreed to join, current coalition members 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 ...
rejected the opportunity, with Livni claiming that they had made "economically and diplomatically illegitimate" demands (which included increasing child benefits and rejecting the possible division of Jerusalem in a deal with the Palestinians
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
). It was reported that Shas had rejected almost one billion shekels
Israeli new sheqel
The Israeli New Shekel is the currency of the State of Israel. The shekel is divided into 100 agorot...
in child allowances offered to them as part of the coalition negotiations. Gil and 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...
had both rejected offers to join, whilst negotiations with 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....
were still ongoing. On 26 October, Livni recommended to President
President of Israel
The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely an apolitical ceremonial figurehead role, with the real executive power lying in the hands of the Prime Minister. The current president is Shimon Peres who took office on 15 July 2007...
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...
that early elections be held.
President Peres had three days to consult on the recommendation, after which there was a period of three weeks in which other Knesset members could have offered to form an alternative coalition, but no such alternative was brought.
The election would have to be held within 90 days after the end of that period. Although Kadima submitted a bill to the Knesset on 27 October to call early elections and bypass the three week period, Peres's announcement to the Knesset that there was no chance of forming a government meant that the full waiting period stood. Ehud Olmert was to remain the caretaker Prime Minister until a new government was formed after the elections.
The traditional distinction between the Israeli left and the right had become blurred, with both the voters and the main candidates gravitating toward the center. Israelis, who had always been highly politicized, were switching affiliations more easily. On the Palestinian front, stark differences among the parties still remained. Kadima were committed to continuing talks for a two-state solution
Two-state solution
The two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the consensus solution that is currently under discussion by the key parties to the conflict, most recently at the Annapolis Conference in November 2007...
. Labor did not believe that bilateral Israeli–Palestinian negotiations could succeed under the current circumstances and advocated a more comprehensive, regional approach to peace. Likud said it would promote an "economic peace" with the Palestinians and also hold political negotiations, although it was not clear about what.
Procedures
Elections to the Knesset allocate 120 seats by party-list proportional representationParty-list proportional representation
Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems emphasizing proportional representation in elections in which multiple candidates are elected...
, using the D'Hondt method
D'Hondt method
The d'Hondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. The method described is named after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt who described it in 1878...
. The election threshold
Election threshold
In party-list proportional representation systems, an election threshold is a clause that stipulates that a party must receive a minimum percentage of votes, either nationally or within a particular district, to obtain any seats in the parliament...
for the 2006 election was set at 2% (up from 1.5% in previous elections), which is a little over two seats.
After official results are published, the President delegates the task of forming a government to the member of Knesset with the best chance of assembling a majority coalition (usually the leader of the largest party, but not required). That member has up to 42 days to negotiate with the different parties, and then present his or her government to the Knesset for a vote of confidence. Once the government is approved (by a vote of at least 61 members), he or she becomes Prime Minister.
Parties
By 23 December, a record 43 parties had registered with the parties registrar, compared to 31 for the 2006 elections, although in the end, only 34 parties submitted a list of candidates and only 33 ran on election day. On 12 January 2009, Balad and the United Arab ListUnited 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...
–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...
alliance were disqualified 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...
on the grounds that they failed to recognise Israel as a Jewish state and called for armed conflict against it. Balad and Ta'al were also disqualified from the 2003 election, but won a Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...
case which allowed them to run. On 21 January 2009, the Supreme Court again revoked the ban.
Alliances
The Labor–MeimadMeimad
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...
alliance, in existence since 1999, was ended prior to the elections. Labor ran on its own, whilst Meimad ran a joint list with the new Green Movement
The Green Movement (Israel)
The Green Movement is a social-environmental political party in Israel. Formed in 2008, it contested the 2009 elections in an alliance with Meimad.-History:...
.
Meretz and Tnu'a HaHadasha, a new movement of left-wing activists led by Tzali Reshef
Tzali Reshef
Betzalel "Tzali" Reshef is a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party between August 2002 and February 2003.-Biography:...
, ran a joint list, with Tnua'a HaHadasha representatives getting third, seventh and eleventh spots on the alliance's list.
The anti-West Bank barrier
Israeli West Bank barrier
The Israeli West Bank barrier is a separation barrier being constructed by the State of Israel along and within the West Bank. Upon completion, the barrier’s total length will be approximately...
movement Tarabut has merged into 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:...
.
The religious Zionist
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
Ahi party, previously part of the National Union alliance, merged into Likud in late December 2008. Ultra-orthodox
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
parties Agudat Israel
Agudat Israel
Agudat Yisrael began as the original political party representing the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine...
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:...
agreed to continue their alliance, United Torah Judaism, for the election.
New parties
Several political parties have been established since the 2006 elections. The first was Social JusticeSocial Justice (political party)
Social Justice is a political party in Israel headed by Russian-Israeli businessman, Arcadi Gaydamak. It was launched by in February 2007 as a social movement, but was transformed into a political party in July that year. It did not participate in the 2009 elections for the Knesset.-Background:The...
, founded by billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak
Arcadi Gaydamak
Arcadi Aleksandrovich Gaydamak, is a Russian-Israeli businessman, who was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honour. On April 29, 2011 the Court of Appeal in Paris acquitted him of charges of arms dealing...
in February 2007 (which in the end did not run in the election), whilst Yisrael Hazaka
Yisrael Hazaka
Yisrael Hazaka is a new political party in Israel. It was established by former Labor Party MK Efraim Sneh on 25 May 2008. It participated in the 2009 Knesset elections but failed to pass the electoral threshold, not receiving any seats.-Background:...
was established by the former Labor member of the Knesset, Efraim Sneh
Efraim Sneh
Efraim Sneh is an Israeli politician, physician, and a retired Brigadier General in the Israel Defense Forces. He was a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party between 1992 and 2008 and served in several ministerial posts...
in May 2008.
After the announcement of elections in late October 2008, the Tkuma and Moledet
Moledet
Moledet is a small right-wing political party in Israel. It advocates the notion of encouraging voluntary population transfer of the Arab population of the West Bank. Moledet was founded in 1988 by Rehavam Ze'evi, who headed it until his assassination by members of the PFLP in 2001, after which...
factions of the 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:...
and the 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...
merged into a single party in early November 2008, which was later named The Jewish Home
The Jewish Home
-External links:*...
. However, the National Union was re-established after the Moledet and Tkuma factions broke away from the party and agreed an alliance with Hatikva
Hatikva (political party)
Hatikva is a minor political party in Israel. A secular right-wing party, it is headed by Aryeh Eldad, and forms one of the factions of the National Union alliance.Formed in late 2007, it was officially registered on 9 December 2007...
headed by Aryeh Eldad and Eretz Yisrael Shelanu (Our Land of Israel) headed by Rabbi Sholom Dov Wolpo and Baruch Marzel
Baruch Marzel
Baruch Meir Marzel is an Israeli politician. Marzel, an American-born Orthodox Jew, lives in the Jewish community of Hebron in Tel Rumeida with his wife and nine children. He is the leader of the Religious Zionism-orientated Jewish National Front party...
.
Member of the Knesset Abbas Zakour
Abbas Zakour
Abbas Zakour is an Israeli Arab politician and a former member of the Knesset for the United Arab List.-Biography:Born in Acre, Zakour gained a BA in Islamic Sciences at the Al-Quds University in 1990...
left the United Arab List to establish the Arab Centre Party in early December 2008. However, he later joined the Balad list.
Opinion polls
| Source | Party | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kadima | Labor Party | Shas | Likud | Yisrael Beiteinu | Jewish Home | National Union | Gil | United Torah Judaism | Meretz | United Arab List–Ta'al | Hadash | Balad | The Greens | |
| 17th Knesset | 29 | 19 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | |
| Dahaf 27 Oct |
29 | 11 | 11 | 26 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 2 | |||
| Teleseker 27 Oct |
31 | 11 | 8 | 29 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 3 | |||
| Gal Hadash 30 Oct |
30 | 13 | 10 | 31 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2 | |||
| Gal Hadash 13 Nov |
28 | 11 | 10 | 33 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 3 | |||
| Dialog 20 Nov |
28 | 10 | 10 | 34 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 0 | |||
| Dahaf 20 Nov |
26 | 8 | 11 | 32 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 3 | |||
| Shvakim Panorama 15 Dec |
20 | 14 | 12 | 34 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 0 | |||
| Teleseker 19 Dec |
30 | 12 | 9 | 30 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 0 | |||
| Dialog 25 Dec |
26 | 11 | 13 | 30 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | – | |
| Dialog 31 Dec |
27 | 16 | 9 | 32 | 11 | 3 | – | 5 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 2 | – | |
| Reshet Bet 15 Jan |
21 | 15 | 10 | 28 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Panels 22 Jan |
24 | 15 | 10 | 30 | 15 | 2 | 4 | – | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | – |
| Dialog 29 Jan |
25 | 14 | 10 | 28 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | – |
| Midgam 3 Feb |
23 | 17 | 10 | 28 | 18 | 4 | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | – |
| Teleseker 4 Feb |
23 | 17 | 10 | 27 | 17 | 3 | 4 | – | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 0 | – |
| Shvakim Panorama 5 Feb |
21 | 16 | 11 | 25 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | – |
| Panels 5 Feb |
25 | 14 | 10 | 26 | 18 | 3 | 4 | – | 5 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 2 | – |
| Dahaf 6 Feb |
23 | 16 | 10 | 25 | 19 | 3 | 4 | – | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | – |
| Dialog 6 Feb |
25 | 14 | 9 | 27 | 18 | 2 | 4 | – | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | – |
Result
Government formation
On 20 February the President Shimon Peres announced that Likud's Benjamin NetanyahuBenjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
would be given the task of forming a government. This is the first time in which the president had not appointed the head of the largest party for this task, although there had already been several cases in which the Prime Minister was not the head of the largest party. Such a case occurred in the 1996 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1996
Elections for the fourteenth Knesset were held in Israel on 29 May 1996. Voter turnout was 79.3%.The 1996 elections included two new changes, both designed to increase the stability of the Knesset. First, the Prime Minister was to be elected on a separate ballot from the remaining members of the...
, when Netanyahu himself was elected Prime Minister by direct vote
Israeli prime ministerial election, 1996
The first ever election for Prime Minister was held in Israel on 29 May 1996 alongside simultaneous Knesset elections. There were only two candidates: Shimon Peres of the Labour Party and Binyamin Netanyahu of Likud. The result was a surprise win for Netanyahu by a margin of 29,457 votes, less than...
although his Likud party won fewer seats than Shimon Peres's Labor party. Peres's motivation in nominating Netanyahu was likely based upon the judgment that Netanyahu was in a better position numerically to put together a coalition. Likud's potential partners on the political right won more seats than the parties of the centre-left, who would more likely support Kadima.
Labor and Kadima initially stated they would not join a Likud-led government, although both parties scheduled further talks. Polls at the time showed that the public supported a national unity government between Likud and Kadima, with either Yisrael Beitenu or Labor as the third senior coalition member.
On 16 March 2009, Netanyahu signed a coalition agreement with Yisrael Beitenu. Following an extension of the coalition negotiation deadline from 20 March to 3 April 2009, he then signed a coalition agreement with 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 ...
on 22 March 2009, and on 24 March 2009 he secured the support of the Labor Party, with Labor's central committee approving the deal by 680 votes to 507. However, large parts of the party remained sceptical, accusing Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....
of only being interested in his own benefits under the deal. On 25 March, the Jewish Home also joined the coalition.
On 30 March, in accordance with the Israeli Basic Law
Basic Laws of Israel
The Basic Laws of Israel are a key component of Israel's constitutional law. These laws deal with the formation and role of the principal state's institutions, and the relations between the state's authorities. Some of them also protect civil rights...
, Netanyahu informed Peres and acting Knesset speaker, Michael Eitan
Michael Eitan
Michael Eitan is an Israeli politician, Minister of Improvement of Government Services and member of the Knesset for Likud. He served as Minister of Science & Technology between July 1997 and July 1998. Alongside Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Eitan is the joint longest-serving MK, and as such was...
, that he was able to form a government and the Knesset was set to convene on 31 March 2009, in order to vote on the government in a "Vote of Confidence" and to be sworn in thereafter. The country's 32nd government
Cabinet of Israel
The Cabinet of Israel is a formal body composed of government officials called ministers, chosen and led by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister must appoint members based on the distribution of votes to political parties during legislative elections, and its composition must be approved by a...
was approved that day by a majority of 69 lawmakers, with 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...
joined the following day, expanding the coalition to 74 MKs.
External links
- Knesset site with official results
- Elections in Israel - February 2009 from the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Where they stand: Israeli election 2009
Analysis
- Israel's Elections: Making a Hard Right By TIM MCGIRK, Time Feb. 08, 2009