Israeli legislative election, 1961
Encyclopedia
Elections
for the fifth Knesset were held in Israel
on 15 August 1961. Voter turnout was 81.6%.
¹ Eight MKs broke away from Mapai to establish Rafi
² Herut and the Liberal Party merged to form Gahal
. Seven Liberal Party members unhappy with the decision (largely former Progressive Party
members) broke away to form the Independent Liberals
.
³ Two MKs broke away from Maki to establish Rakah.
's Mapai party forming the tenth government on 2 November 1961. His coalition included the National Religious Party, Ahdut HaAvoda, Agudat Israel Workers, Cooperation and Brotherhood and Progress and Development, and had 13 ministers. Kadish Luz
of Mapai was appointed Knesset Speaker. The government collapsed when Ben-Gurion resigned on 16 June 1963 citing personal reasons, but in reality was annoyed at a perceived lack of support from his colleagues. He later broke away from Mapai with several colleagues to form Rafi.
took over Mapai and formed the eleventh government on 26 June, 1963 with the same coalition partners as previously, but one more minister. The government resigned on 10 December 1964 when Ben-Gurion demanded that members of the Supreme Court
investigate the Lavon Affair
.
The fifth Knesset was notable for the coalescing of the two major right-wing parties (Herut and the Liberal Party) to form an electoral block (Gahal) capable of threatening Mapai's hegemony in Israeli politics. Gahal, which by then had become Likud
, finally overtook Mapai (which had merged into the Alignment
) in the 1977 elections
.
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 fifth 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 15 August 1961. Voter turnout was 81.6%.
Results
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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... ¹ |
349,330 | 34.7 | 42 | |
| 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:... ² |
138,599 | 13.8 | 17 | 0 |
| 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... ² |
137,255 | 13.6 | 17 | |
| 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... |
98,786 | 9.8 | 12 | 0 |
| 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... |
75,654 | 7.5 | 9 | 0 |
| 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.... |
66,170 | 6.6 | 8 | |
| 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:... ³ |
42,111 | 4.2 | 5 | |
| Agudat Yisrael | 37,178 | 3.7 | 4 | 0 |
| Poalei Agudat Yisrael | 19,428 | 1.9 | 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... |
19,342 | 1.9 | 2 | 0 |
| 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... |
16,034 | 1.6 | 2 | 0 |
| Progress and Work Progress and Work Progress and Work was a political party in Israel.-History:The Progress and Work party was an Israeli Arab organisation formed to fight the 1951 elections... |
3,561 | 0.4 | 0 | 0 |
| Religious Sephardim List | 3,181 | 0.3 | 0 | New |
| Supporters of Democracy | 335 | 0.0 | 0 | New |
| Invalid/blank votes | 30,066 | |||
| Total | 1,037,030 | 100 | 120 | 0 |
| Source: Nohlen et al | ||||
¹ Eight MKs broke away from Mapai to establish Rafi
² Herut and the Liberal Party merged to form 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:...
. Seven Liberal Party members unhappy with the decision (largely 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) broke away to form 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,...
.
³ Two MKs broke away from Maki to establish Rakah.
Tenth government
The fifth Knesset started with David Ben-GurionDavid 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...
's Mapai party forming the tenth government on 2 November 1961. His coalition included the National Religious Party, Ahdut HaAvoda, Agudat Israel Workers, Cooperation and Brotherhood and Progress and Development, and had 13 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 Mapai was appointed Knesset Speaker. The government collapsed when Ben-Gurion resigned on 16 June 1963 citing personal reasons, but in reality was annoyed at a perceived lack of support from his colleagues. He later broke away from Mapai with several colleagues to form Rafi.
Eleventh government
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:...
took over Mapai and formed the eleventh government on 26 June, 1963 with the same coalition partners as previously, but one more minister. The government resigned on 10 December 1964 when Ben-Gurion demanded that members of the 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...
investigate the Lavon Affair
Lavon Affair
The Lavon Affair refers to a failed Israeli covert operation, code named Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the Summer of 1954. As part of the false flag operation, a group of Egyptian Jews were recruited by Israeli military intelligence for plans to plant bombs inside Egyptian, American and...
.
Twelfth government
Eshkol formed the twelfth government a week later on 22 December 1964 with the same coalition partners and ministers as previously.The fifth Knesset was notable for the coalescing of the two major right-wing parties (Herut and the Liberal Party) to form an electoral block (Gahal) capable of threatening Mapai's hegemony in Israeli politics. Gahal, which by then had become 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...
, finally overtook Mapai (which had merged into 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...
) in the 1977 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1977
The Elections for the ninth Knesset were held on 17 May 1977. For the first time in Israeli political history, the right-wing, led by Likud, won the election, ending almost 30 years of rule by the left-wing Alignment and its predecessor, Mapai...
.
External links
- Historical overview of the Fifth Knesset Knesset website
- Election results Knesset website
- The Fifth Knesset Knesset website