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1988 Israeli legislative election
Elections for the 12th Knesset

Elections for the 12th Knesset were held in Israel on 1 November 1988. Voter turnout was 79.7%.

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Parliament factions

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

The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 11th Knesset.

NameIdeologySymbolLeader1984 resultSeats at 1988dissolution
Votes (%)Seats
AlignmentSocial democracyLabor Zionismאמת‎Shimon Peres34.9%238 / 12038 / 120
MapamLabor ZionismSocialismמפם‎Yair Tzaban6 / 1205 / 120
LikudNational liberalismמחל‎Yitzhak Shamir31.9%41 / 12043 / 120
TehiyaUltranationalismRevisionist Zionismת‎Yuval Ne'emanRafael Eitan4.0%5 / 1204 / 120
MafdalReligious Zionismב‎Yosef Burg3.5%4 / 1205 / 120
HadashCommunismSocialismו‎Meir Vilner3.4%4 / 1205 / 120
ShasReligious conservatismPopulismשס‎Yitzhak Peretz3.1%4 / 1203 / 120
ShinuiLiberalismCentrismהן‎Amnon Rubinstein2.7%3 / 1204 / 120
RatzSocial democracySecularismרצ‎Shulamit Aloni2.4%3 / 1204 / 120
YahadCentrismט‎Ezer Weizman2.2%3 / 1200 / 120
PLFPPro-peaceפ‎Mohammed Miari1.8%2 / 1202 / 120
Agudat YisraelReligious conservatismג‎Avraham Yosef Shapira1.7%2 / 1202 / 120
MorashaReligious conservatismSocial Conservatismעד‎Haim Drukman1.6%2 / 1201 / 120
TzometAgrarianismZionismץ‎Rafael Eitan-0 / 1201 / 120
TamiReligious ZionismEconomic egalitarianismני‎Aharon Abuhatzira1.5%1 / 1200 / 120
Kach3Religious ZionismKahanismכך‎Meir Kahane1.2%1 / 1201 / 120
OmetzNational liberalismיש‎Yigal Hurvitz1.2%1 / 1200 / 120
MadaIsraeli Arab Interestsע‎Abdulwahab Darawshe-0 / 1201 / 120
Independent----0 / 1201 / 120

Debates

DateOrganizerModerator P  Present    I  Invitee  N  Non-invitee 
LikudAlignmentRefs
PYitzhak ShamirPShimon Peres4

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Likud709,30531.0740−1
Alignment685,36330.0239−5
Shas107,7094.726+2
Agudat Yisrael102,7144.505+3
Ratz97,5134.275+2
National Religious Party89,7203.935+1
Hadash84,0323.6840
Tehiya70,7303.103−2
Mapam56,3452.473New
Tzomet45,4891.992New
Moledet44,1741.932New
Shinui39,5381.732−1
Degel HaTorah34,2791.502New
Progressive List for Peace33,6951.481−1
Arab Democratic Party27,0121.181New
Pensioners16,6740.730New
Meimad15,7830.690New
Derekh Aretz4,2530.190New
Or Movement4,1820.180New
Movement for Social Justice3,2220.140New
Yishai – Tribal Israel Together2,9470.130New
Movement for Moshavim2,8380.120New
Tarshish1,6540.070New
Silent Power1,5790.070New
Movement for Demobilised Soldiers1,0180.040New
Yemenite Association9090.040New
Unity4460.0200
Total2,283,123100.001200
Valid votes2,283,12399.03
Invalid/blank votes22,4440.97
Total votes2,305,567100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,894,26779.66
Source: IDI, Nohlen et al.

Aftermath

See also: List of members of the twelfth Knesset

Likud's Yitzhak Shamir formed the twenty-third government on 22 December 1988, including the Alignment, the National Religious Party, Shas, Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah in his coalition, with 25 ministers.

In 1990 Shimon Peres tried to form an Alignment-led coalition in a move that became known as "the dirty trick", but failed to win sufficient support. Eventually Shamir formed the twenty-fourth government on 11 June 1990, with a coalition encompassing Likud, the National Religious Party, Shas, Agudat Yisrael, Degel HaTorah, the New Liberal Party, Tehiya, Tzomet, Moledet, Unity for Peace and Immigration and Geulat Yisrael. Tehiya, Tzomet and Moledet all left the coalition in late 1991/early 1992 in protest at Shamir's participation in the Madrid Conference.

Several defections occurred during the Knesset term; five members of Likud left to form the Party for the Advancement of the Zionist Idea. After two of them returned, the party was renamed the New Liberal Party. Yitzhak Peretz left Shas and established Moria. Eliezer Mizrahi left Agudat Yisrael and established Geulat Yisrael. Efraim Gur left the Alignment to establish Unity for Peace and Immigration, which later merged into Likud.

The Twelfth Knesset saw the rise of the ultra-orthodox religious parties as a significant force in Israeli politics, and as a crucial "swing" element which could determine which of the large two secular parties (Likud, Alignment) would get to form the coalition government. Ratz, Mapam, and Shinui merged into Meretz, while Black Panthers broke away from Hadash.

Notes

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p127 ISBN 0-19-924958-X /wiki/Dieter_Nohlen ↩

  2. Mapam had been part of the Alignment since 1969, but the party broke away prior to the 1988 election as a gesture of disapproval of the national unity government with Likud. ↩

  3. Kach was disqualified from running in the 1988 elections for violation of the amended Basic Law: the Knesset. ↩

  4. "עימות בחירות 1988". YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmgAh-mXzRg ↩