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2009 Israeli legislative election
Elections for the 18th Knesset

Legislative elections were held in Israel on 10 February 2009 to elect the 120 members of the eighteenth Knesset. 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.

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Background

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.6

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.7

The election would have to be held within 90 days after the end of that period.8 Although Kadima submitted a bill to the Knesset on 27 October to call early elections and bypass the three-week period,9 Peres' announcement to the Knesset that there was no chance of forming a government meant that the full waiting period stood.10 Ehud Olmert was to remain the caretaker prime minister until a new government was formed after the elections.11

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.1213

Procedures

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

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

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

NameIdeologySymbolLeader2006 resultSeats at 2008dissolution
Votes (%)Seats
KadimaLiberalismכן‎Tzipi Livni22.02%29 / 12029 / 120
LaborSocial democracyאמת‎Ehud Barak15.06%19 / 12019 / 120
ShasReligious conservatismשס‎Eli Yishai9.53%12 / 12012 / 120
LikudNational liberalismמחל‎Benjamin Netanyahu8.99%12 / 12012 / 120
Yisrael BeiteinuNationalismSecularismל‎Avigdor Lieberman8.99%11 / 12011 / 120
National Union-NRPReligious ZionismNational conservatismטב‎Yaakov Katz7.14%9 / 1209 / 120
GilPensioners' interestsזך‎Rafi Eitan5.92%7 / 1207 / 120
UTJReligious conservatismג‎Yaakov Litzman4.69%6 / 1206 / 120
MeretzSocial democracySecularismמרצ‎Haim Oron3.77%5 / 1205 / 120
Ra'am-Ta'alArab nationalismIslamismעם‎Ibrahim Sarsur3.02%4 / 1204 / 120
HadashCommunismSocialismו‎Mohammad Barakeh2.74%3 / 1203 / 120
BaladArab nationalismPan-arabismד‎Jamal Zahalka2.30%3 / 1203 / 120

Parties

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,14 although in the end, only 34 parties submitted a list of candidates,15 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.16 Balad and Ta'al were also disqualified from the 2003 election, but won a Supreme Court case which allowed them to run.17 On 21 January 2009, the Supreme Court again revoked the ban.18

Alliances

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.19

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.20

The anti-West Bank barrier movement Tarabut was merged into Hadash.21

The religious Zionist Ahi party, previously part of the National Union alliance, merged into Likud in late December 2008.22 Ultra-Orthodox parties Agudat Israel and Degel HaTorah agreed to continue their alliance, United Torah Judaism, for the election.23

New parties

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 2008,24 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.25262728

Member of the Knesset Abbas Zakour left the United Arab List to establish the Arab Centre Party in early December 2008.29 However, he later joined the Balad list.30

Opinion polls

Main article: Opinion polling for the 2009 Israeli legislative election

SourceDateKadimaLabor PartyShasLikudYisraelBeiteinuJewishHomeNationalUnionGilUTJMeretzRa'am–Ta'alHadashBaladGreens
Election result10 Feb291912121197654330
Dahaf27 Oct312911112697276102
Teleseker27 Oct323111829117045113
Gal Hadash30 Oct333013103186055102
Gal Hadash13 Nov342811103376057103
Dialog20 Nov3528101034104067110
Dahaf20 Nov36268113296077113
Shvakim Panorama15 Dec372014123411407690
Teleseker19 Dec383012930125057100
Dialog25 Dec3926111330116258332–
Dialog31 Dec402716932113–57442–
Reshet Bet15 Jan412115102815330754333
Panels22 Jan42241510301524–56432–
Dialog29 Jan43251410281534255432–
Midgam3 Feb44231710281843–54242–
Teleseker4 Feb45231710271734–56440–
Shvakim Panorama5 Feb46211611251644275342–
Panels5 Feb47251410261834–56342–
Dahaf6 Feb48231610251934–65432–
Dialog6 Feb4925149271824–67332–

Results

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

On 20 February, President Shimon Peres announced that Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu would be given the task of forming a government.50 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.515253 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.54

On 16 March 2009, Netanyahu signed a coalition agreement with Yisrael Beitenu.55 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 2009,56 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 507.57 However, large parts of the party remained sceptical, accusing Ehud Barak of only being interested in his own benefits under the deal.58 On 25 March, the Jewish Home also joined the coalition.59

On 30 March, in accordance with the Israeli Basic Law,60 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.61 The country's 32nd government was approved that day by a majority of 69 lawmakers,62 with United Torah Judaism joining the following day, expanding the coalition to 74 MKs.63

Unity Government 2012

On 27 March 2012, the Opposition party Kadima called for leadership primaries, pitting its leader Tzipi Livni against Shaul Mofaz.64 Mofaz won with 62% of the vote. Livni resigned from the Knesset in May 2012.65

Earlier, Netanyahu defeated his rival Moshe Feiglin, winning 77% of the vote in the primaries for the Likud leadership held on 31 January 2012.66

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 26.67 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 2013.68

See also

Analysis

References

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