2009 Israeli legislative election

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Elections for the 18th Knesset
Israel
← 2006 10 February 2009 2013 →
All 120 seats in the Knesset
61 seats needed for a majority
Turnout64.7% (Increase 1.1 pp)
Party Leader % Seats +/–
Kadima Tzipi Livni 22.47 28 −1
Likud-Ahi Benjamin Netanyahu 21.61 27 +15
Yisrael Beiteinu Avigdor Lieberman 11.70 15 +4
Labor Ehud Barak 9.93 13 −6
Shas Eli Yishai 8.49 11 −1
UTJ Yaakov Litzman 4.39 5 −1
Ra'am–Ta'al Ibrahim Sarsur 3.38 4 0
National Union Yaakov Katz 3.34 4 −2
Hadash Mohammad Barakeh 3.32 4 +1
Meretz Haim Oron 2.95 3 −2
Jewish Home Daniel Hershkowitz 2.87 3 0
Balad Jamal Zahalka 2.48 3 0
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Ehud Olmert
Kadima		 Benjamin Netanyahu
Likud		Benjamin Netanyahu
A privacy divider to ensure ballot secrecy

Elections for the 18th Knesset were held in Israel on 10 February 2009.[1] 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. Had Olmert remained in office or had Livni formed a coalition government, the elections would have been scheduled for 2010 instead.

Although the incumbent prime minister's party, Kadima, won the most seats in the parliament, the Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu was able to form a majority coalition government and become the new prime minister.

Background[edit]

On 17 September 2008, Kadima held a leadership election, 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,[2] 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 member Shas rejected the opportunity; Livni claimed that it had made "economically and diplomatically illegitimate" demands (including a reluctance to increase child benefits, and rejection of the possible division of Jerusalem in a deal with the Palestinians).[3] It was reported that Shas had rejected almost one billion shekels in child allowances offered to it as part of the coalition negotiations.[4] Gil and United Torah Judaism had both rejected offers to join, while negotiations with Meretz-Yachad were still ongoing.[5] On 26 October, Livni recommended to President Shimon Peres that early elections be held.[3]

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.[3]

The election would have to be held within 90 days after the end of that period.[2] Although Kadima submitted a bill to the Knesset on 27 October to call early elections and bypass the three-week period,[6] Peres' announcement to the Knesset that there was no chance of forming a government meant that the full waiting period stood.[6] Ehud Olmert was to remain the caretaker Prime Minister until a new government was formed after the elections.[2]

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 was committed to continuing talks for a two-state solution. 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.[7][8]

Procedures[edit]

Main article: Elections in Israel

Elections to the Knesset allocate 120 seats by party-list proportional representation, using the D'Hondt method. The election threshold 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 the government to the Knesset for a vote of confidence. Once the government is approved (by a vote of at least 61 members), the leader becomes Prime Minister.

Parliament factions[edit]

For a more comprehensive list, see List of political parties in Israel.

The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 17th Knesset.

Name Ideology Symbol Leader 2006 result Seats at 2008
dissolution
Votes (%) Seats
Kadima Liberalism כן‎ Tzipi Livni 22.02%
29 / 120
29 / 120
Labor Social democracy אמת‎ Ehud Barak 15.06%
19 / 120
19 / 120
Shas Religious conservatism שס‎ Eli Yishai 9.53%
12 / 120
12 / 120
Likud National liberalism מחל‎ Benjamin Netanyahu 8.99%
12 / 120
12 / 120
Yisrael Beiteinu Nationalism
Secularism 		ל‎ Avigdor Lieberman 8.99%
11 / 120
11 / 120
National Union-NRP Religious Zionism
National conservatism 		טב‎ Yaakov Katz 7.14%
9 / 120
9 / 120
Gil Pensioners' interests זך‎ Rafi Eitan 5.92%
7 / 120
7 / 120
UTJ Religious conservatism ג‎ Yaakov Litzman 4.69%
6 / 120
6 / 120
Meretz Social democracy
Secularism 		מרצ‎ Haim Oron 3.77%
5 / 120
5 / 120
Ra'am-Ta'al Arab nationalism
Islamism 		עם‎ Ibrahim Sarsur 3.02%
4 / 120
4 / 120
Hadash Communism
Socialism 		ו‎ Mohammad Barakeh 2.74%
3 / 120
3 / 120
Balad Arab nationalism
Pan-arabism 		ד‎ Jamal Zahalka 2.30%
3 / 120
3 / 120

Parties[edit]

For a more comprehensive list, see Party lists for the 2009 Israeli legislative election.

By 23 December 2008, a record 43 parties had registered with the parties registrar, compared to 31 for the 2006 elections,[9] although in the end, only 34 parties submitted a list of candidates,[10] and only 33 ran on election day. On 12 January 2009, Balad and the United Arab List–Ta'al alliance were disqualified by the Central Elections Committee on the grounds that they failed to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and called for armed conflict against it.[11] Balad and Ta'al were also disqualified from the 2003 election, but won a Supreme Court case which allowed them to run.[12] On 21 January 2009, the Supreme Court again revoked the ban.[13]

Alliances[edit]

The Labor–Meimad alliance, in existence since 1999, was ended prior to the elections. Labor ran on its own, and Meimad ran a joint list with the new Green Movement.[14]

Meretz and Tnu'a HaHadasha, a new movement of left-wing activists led by Tzali Reshef, ran a joint list, with Tnua'a HaHadasha representatives getting third, seventh, and eleventh spots on the alliance's list.[15]

The anti-West Bank barrier movement Tarabut was merged into Hadash.[16]

The religious Zionist Ahi party, previously part of the National Union alliance, merged into Likud in late December 2008.[17] Ultra-Orthodox parties Agudat Israel and Degel HaTorah agreed to continue their alliance, United Torah Judaism, for the election.[18]

New parties[edit]

Several political parties had been established since the 2006 elections. The first was Social Justice, founded by billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak in February 2007 (which in the end did not run in the election), and Yisrael Hazaka was established by the former Labor member of the Knesset, Efraim Sneh, in May 2008.

After the announcement of elections in late October 2008, the Tkuma and Moledet factions of the National Union and the National Religious Party merged into a single party in early November 2008,[19] which was later named The Jewish Home. However, the National Union was re-established after the Moledet and Tkuma factions broke away from the party and agreed to an alliance with Hatikva headed by Aryeh Eldad and Eretz Yisrael Shelanu (Our Land of Israel) headed by Rabbi Sholom Dov Wolpo and Baruch Marzel.[10][20][21][22]

Member of the Knesset Abbas Zakour left the United Arab List to establish the Arab Centre Party in early December 2008.[23] However, he later joined the Balad list.[24]

Opinion polls[edit]

Main article: Opinion polling for the 2009 Israeli legislative election
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[25] 		29 11 11 26 9 7 2 7 6 10 2
Teleseker
27 Oct[26] 		31 11 8 29 11 7 0 4 5 11 3
Gal Hadash
30 Oct[27] 		30 13 10 31 8 6 0 5 5 10 2
Gal Hadash
13 Nov[28] 		28 11 10 33 7 6 0 5 7 10 3
Dialog
20 Nov[29] 		28 10 10 34 10 4 0 6 7 11 0
Dahaf
20 Nov[30] 		26 8 11 32 9 6 0 7 7 11 3
Shvakim Panorama
15 Dec[31] 		20 14 12 34 11 4 0 7 6 9 0
Teleseker
19 Dec[32] 		30 12 9 30 12 5 0 5 7 10 0
Dialog
25 Dec[33] 		26 11 13 30 11 6 2 5 8 3 3 2 –
Dialog
31 Dec[34] 		27 16 9 32 11 3 – 5 7 4 4 2 –
Reshet Bet
15 Jan[35] 		21 15 10 28 15 3 3 0 7 5 4 3 3 3
Panels
22 Jan[36] 		24 15 10 30 15 2 4 – 5 6 4 3 2 –
Dialog
29 Jan[37] 		25 14 10 28 15 3 4 2 5 5 4 3 2 –
Midgam
3 Feb[38] 		23 17 10 28 18 4 3 – 5 4 2 4 2 –
Teleseker
4 Feb[39] 		23 17 10 27 17 3 4 – 5 6 4 4 0 –
Shvakim Panorama
5 Feb[40] 		21 16 11 25 16 4 4 2 7 5 3 4 2 –
Panels
5 Feb[41] 		25 14 10 26 18 3 4 – 5 6 3 4 2 –
Dahaf
6 Feb[42] 		23 16 10 25 19 3 4 – 6 5 4 3 2 –
Dialog
6 Feb[43] 		25 14 9 27 18 2 4 – 6 7 3 3 2 –
Source
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
Party

Results[edit]

The Likud Party chairman Benjamin Netanyahu. Although the Likud party placed second in the 2009 elections, the right-wing parties won a majority; thus, Netanyahu managed to form a coalition government after the elections, and thus became the new Prime Minister.
Ballot papers
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Kadima758,03222.4728−1
Likud729,05421.6127+15
Yisrael Beiteinu394,57711.7015+4
Labor Party334,9009.9313–6
Shas286,3008.4911–1
United Torah Judaism147,9544.395–1
United Arab List–Ta'al113,9543.3840
National Union112,5703.3440
Hadash112,1303.324+1
New Movement-Meretz99,6112.953–2
The Jewish Home96,7652.8730
Balad83,7392.4830
The Green Movement–Meimad27,7370.820–1
Gil17,5710.520–7
Ale Yarok13,1320.3900
The Greens12,3780.3700
Yisrael Hazaka6,7220.200New
Tzabar4,7520.140New
Koah LeHashpi'a3,6960.110New
Da'am Workers Party2,6450.0800
Yisrael HaMithadeshet2,5720.080New
Holocaust Survivors and Grown-Up Green Leaf Party2,3460.070New
Leader1,8870.0600
Tzomet1,5200.0500
Koah HaKesef1,0080.0300
Man's Rights in the Family Party9210.0300
HaYisraelim8560.030New
Or8150.020New
Ahrayut8020.020New
Brit Olam6780.0200
Lev LaOlim6320.0200
Lazuz6230.020New
Lehem6110.020New
Total3,373,490100.001200
Valid votes3,373,49098.74
Invalid/blank votes43,0971.26
Total votes3,416,587100.00
Registered voters/turnout5,278,98564.72
Source: Knesset Board of Elections

Government formation[edit]

Former Kadima Party chairwoman Tzipi Livni. Although Kadima won the most seats in the 2009 elections under her leadership, it became an opposition party.

On 20 February, President Shimon Peres announced that Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu would be given the task of forming a government.[44] 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, when Netanyahu himself was elected Prime Minister by direct vote, although his Likud party won fewer seats than Shimon Peres's Labor party. Peres's motivation in nominating Netanyahu was likely based upon the judgement 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.[45][46][47] Polls at the time showed that the public supported a national unity government between Likud and Kadima, with either Yisrael Beiteinu or Labor as the third senior coalition member.[48]

On 16 March 2009, Netanyahu signed a coalition agreement with Yisrael Beitenu.[49] Following an extension of the coalition negotiation deadline from 20 March to 3 April 2009, he then signed a coalition agreement with Shas on 22 March 2009,[50] 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.[51] However, large parts of the party remained sceptical, accusing Ehud Barak of only being interested in his own benefits under the deal.[52] On 25 March, the Jewish Home also joined the coalition.[53]

On 30 March, in accordance with the Israeli Basic Law,[54] Netanyahu informed Peres and acting Knesset speaker, Michael Eitan, 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.[55] The country's 32nd government was approved that day by a majority of 69 lawmakers,[56] with United Torah Judaism joining the following day, expanding the coalition to 74 MKs.[57]

Unity Government 2012[edit]

On 27 March 2012, the Opposition party Kadima called for leadership primaries, pitting its leader Tzipi Livni against Shaul Mofaz.[58] Mofaz won with 62% of the vote. Livni resigned from the Knesset in May 2012.[59]

Earlier, Netanyahu defeated his rival Moshe Feiglin, winning 77% of the vote in the primaries for the Likud leadership held on 31 January 2012.[60]

On the eve of 7 May 2012, after weeks of deliberation and rumours, Netanyahu called for an early general national election and proposed 4 September as the election day, a notion which seemed inevitable—but in a dramatic turn of events, that very night, he announced that he had forged a unity government with the Kadima Party, effectively retracting the earlier call for early elections. The next afternoon, Likud and Kadima signed a coalition agreement placing Kadima's 28 Knesset members in the government, with Mofaz appointed as Active Vice Premier (in case of Netanyahu's absence) and Minister Without Portfolio. This agreement bolstered the government to the widest government in Israel's history, with a coalition of 94 seats and an opposition of only 26.[61] However, on 17 July, Kadima voted to pull out of the coalition—which, all the same, retained a majority of seats even without that party. The reduced coalition was now divided between nationalist groups, such as Yisrael Beiteinu, and Haredi groups, such as Shas, which are on opposite sides of the universal draft issue. This led some commentators to suggest that the coalition's complete break-up was imminent, and that new elections would take place by January 2013.[62]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Mazal Mualem (30 October 2008). "Israel sets February 10 as date for general elections". Haaretz. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Q&A: Israeli elections". BBC News. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  3. ^ a b c "General election looms for Israel". BBC News. 26 October 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  4. ^ Shelly Paz (23 October 2008). "Livni: We've made final offer to Shas". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  5. ^ "Livni: I won't sell Israel's future for the prime minister's seat". Haaretz. 26 October 2008. Archived from the original on 28 October 2008.
  6. ^ a b "Peres sets Israel polls in train". BBC News. 27 October 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  7. ^ Kershner, Isabel (7 February 2009). "Indecision Reigns as Israelis Get Ready to Vote". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  8. ^ "A look at top PM candidates in Israel's election". Fox News. Associated Press. 7 February 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  9. ^ Shelly Paz (23 December 2008). "Record 43 parties are tentatively registered for February's election". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  10. ^ a b Miskin, Maayana (30 December 2008). "34 Parties Make Knesset Bid". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  11. ^ Glickman, Aviad (12 January 2009). "Arab parties disqualified from elections". Ynetnews. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  12. ^ "Poll ban on Arab Israelis lifted". BBC News. 9 January 2003. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  13. ^ "Supreme Court revokes ban on Arab parties from national elections". Haaretz. 26 January 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  14. ^ Ehud Zion Waldoks (18 December 2008). "Green Movement, Meimad run together". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  15. ^ Shelly Paz (18 December 2008). "Hatnua Hahadasha, Meretz work on combined list". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  16. ^ Roffe-Ofir, Sharon (18 December 2008). "Hadash merges with anti-fence movement". Ynetnews. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  17. ^ Gil Hoffman (29 December 2008). "Likud, Eitam's party sign agreement to run together". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  18. ^ Mathew Wagner (29 December 2008). "UTJ decides to run again as unified party". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  19. ^ Koutsoukis, Jason (18 November 2008). "Israeli Left Tries a New Party". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  20. ^ Weiss, Efrat (15 December 2008). "Marzel, Rabbi Wolpo to run for Knesset". Ynetnews. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  21. ^ Matthew Wagner (29 December 2009). "Arutz 7 head to chair NU; Habayit Hayehudi reshuffles list". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  22. ^ Abe Selig (18 December 2009). "Moledet breaks from newly formed Bayit Hayehudi". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
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  29. ^ Lerner, Aaron (20 November 2008). "3 polls Likud 32-34, Kadima 23-28, Labor 8-10". Independent Media Review Analysis. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
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  32. ^ סקר מעריב וטלסקר: שוויון בין קדימה לליכוד [Ma'ariv and TeleSeker poll: equality between Likud and Kadima]. Maariv (in Hebrew). 19 December 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  33. ^ Yossi Verter (25 December 2008). סקר "הארץ": הליכוד איבד 6 מנדטים בתוך שבועיים [Haaretz survey: Likud lost six seats in two weeks]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  34. ^ Yehudah Lev Kay (1 January 2009). "Gaza Operation Boosts Labor, Barak in Latest Poll". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
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  36. ^ סקר: קדימה הולכת אחורה, נתניהו מגדיל את הפער [Poll: Kadima going back, Netanyahu increases the gap] (in Hebrew). Channel 2. 22 January 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
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  40. ^ סקר חברת "שווקים פנורמה": נתניהו מוביל עם 25 מנדטים לבני מאחור עם 21. Haaretz (in Hebrew). 5 February 2009. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  41. ^ סקר ערוץ הכנסת: בנימין נתניהו והליכוד בצניחה חופשית. Haaretz (in Hebrew). 5 February 2009. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  42. ^ "Likud, Kadima in head-to-head race". Ynetnews. 6 February 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  43. ^ Mazal Mualem; Yossi Verter (6 February 2009). סקר "הארץ": קרב צמוד בין ציפי לבני לבנימין נתניהו [Haaretz Survey: tight race between Livni and Benjamin Netanyahu]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  44. ^ Amy Teibel (20 February 2009). "Netanyahu urges moderates to join broad government". Fox News. Associated Press. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  45. ^ "Barak: Israel's Labor party heading to opposition". People's Daily. Xinhua News Agency. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  46. ^ "Labour unlikely to join Netanyahu govt: minister". The Free Library. Agence France-Presse. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  47. ^ "Israel's Livni, Netanyahu agree to more coalition talks". People's Daily. Xinhua News Agency. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  48. ^ "Poll: Israeli public in favor of unity gov't". People's Daily. Xinhua News Agency. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  49. ^ Jonathan Ferziger (16 March 2009). "Likud, Yisrael Beitenu Reach Tentative Coalition Pact". Bloomberg. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  50. ^ Yair Ettinger; Shahar Ilan (24 March 2009). "Shas-Likud coalition deal includes record funding for yeshivas, boosts child allowances". Haaretz. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  51. ^ "Israel's Labor votes to join Netanyahu government". Associated Press. 24 March 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  52. ^ "Ehud Barak agrees to join coalition with Benjamin Netanyahu". The Times. 25 March 2009.(subscription required)
  53. ^ Marcy Oster (25 March 2009). "HaBayit HaYehuda to join Likud government". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  54. ^ "Basic Law: the Government (2001)". The Knesset. Retrieved 4 September 2014. 13(b): "Where the Knesset Member has formed a Government, he shall notify the President of the State and the Speaker of the Knesset to such effect, and the Speaker of the Knesset shall notify the Knesset and set a date for the presentation of the Government to the Knesset within seven days of such notification."
  55. ^ "Netanyahu government to be sworn in on March 31". Times of India. Archived from the original on 2 April 2009.
  56. ^ "ynet הכנסת אישרה: ממשלת נתניהו יצאה לדרך - חדשות היום". Ynet.co.il. 20 June 1995. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
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  58. ^ "Livni moves up Kadima primary elections to March 27". ynetnews.com. Yediot Aharonot. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  59. ^ "Tzipi Livni resigns as member of Israeli parliament". BBC News. 1 May 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  60. ^ "Likud primary results: Netanyahu 77%, Feiglin 23%". Israel Hayom. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  61. ^ "Netanyahu: Unity government will restore stability". ynetnews.com. Yediot Aharonot. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  62. ^ Karl Vick (17 July 2012). "Kadima's Departure Leaves Netanyahu's Coalition at Odds with Itself". Time. Retrieved 4 September 2014.

External links[edit]

Analysis
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