The Greens (Israel)
Encyclopedia
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
currently headed by Pe'er Visner
Pe'er Visner
Pe'er Visner , is an Israeli politician who is deputy mayor of Tel Aviv and is chair of the Israeli Green Party.Visner strongly opposed a 2006 resolution by the United States Green Party calling for divestment from Israel. Visner wrote, "We are very disappointed that our sister party in the US did...
. Although the party is currently not represented in the 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...
, it does hold seats in 22 municipalities across Israel.
History
The Green Party of Israel was established in December 1997.In the 2006 elections, they won 47,595 votes (1.52%). However, it was not enough to pass the 2% threshold, and they were ultimately the largest party not to make it into the Knesset (Balad, with 72,066 votes, was the smallest to make it). For the previous elections in 2003, the electoral threshold had been 1.5%.
However, as a result of substantial gains in the November 2008 municipal elections, the Greens hold a total of 50 seats across 22 municipalities. In Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
, where former Green candidate (presently of 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...
) Yona Yahav
Yona Yahav
Yona Yahav is an Israeli lawyer and politician. Formerly a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party, he is currently mayor of Haifa.-Biography:...
was re-elected to a second mayoral term, the Greens hold four seats, while in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, where Green Party chair Pe'er Visner
Pe'er Visner
Pe'er Visner , is an Israeli politician who is deputy mayor of Tel Aviv and is chair of the Israeli Green Party.Visner strongly opposed a 2006 resolution by the United States Green Party calling for divestment from Israel. Visner wrote, "We are very disappointed that our sister party in the US did...
serves as deputy mayor, the Greens hold three seats.
The Green Party campaigned intensively for the 2009 national elections
Israeli legislative election, 2009
Elections for the 18th Knesset were held in Israel on 10 February 2009. These elections became necessary due to the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as leader of the Kadima party, and the failure of his successor, Tzipi Livni, to form a coalition government...
, held on the 10th of February 2009. Polls by a number of national newspapers had predicted that the party could win around 2-3 seats, putting Greens in the 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...
for the first time. Under the Israeli system of 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...
, this could have provided an opportunity for the Greens, who would likely have been seen as an equally acceptable partner in either a left- or right-wing coalition, to serve as part of the next Israeli government. Importantly, because coalition governments can fall without the minimum amount of support, even a small number of seats would likely provide the Greens with a significant amount of influence over decisions not seen as being particularly contentious (such as environmental protection, which is in theory supported by most Israeli political parties). In the end, however, they failed to pass the electoral threshold and did not win any seats.
Election results
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votes | % | seats |
|---|---|---|---|
Israeli legislative election, 2009 Elections for the 18th Knesset were held in Israel on 10 February 2009. These elections became necessary due to the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as leader of the Kadima party, and the failure of his successor, Tzipi Livni, to form a coalition government... |