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April 2019 Israeli legislative election
Election for the twenty-first Knesset

Early legislative elections in Israel on 9 April 2019 elected the 120 members of the 21st Knesset ahead of schedule due to disputes in the current government over national service for the ultra-Orthodox population and impending corruption charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu's Likud and the Blue and White alliance led by Benny Gantz both secured 35 seats, with smaller right-wing and religious parties holding the balance of power. Continued disagreements on ultra-Orthodox conscription led to a snap election in September 2019.

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Background

Further information: Thirty-fourth government of Israel and List of members of the twentieth Knesset

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman had opposed a draft law (supported by the ultra-Orthodox parties) which would allow full-time Torah students exemptions from serving in the IDF.1 Meretz and Yesh Atid submitted a proposal on 12 March 2018 seeking the dissolution of the Knesset.2 Early elections were averted at that point in time.3

Lieberman would eventually leave the government over the cease-fire with Hamas in Gaza.45 This leaves the governing coalition with 61 seats (out of 120 in total).6 The Jewish Home announced on 16 November 2018 that it would leave the government, as Naftali Bennett (the head of the party) was not given Lieberman's former Defense Ministry post.7 Reports were that Netanyahu would not be giving the post to Bennett and was to meet with other coalition leaders on 18 November to determine a date for early election.8 However, after further discussion, Bennett decided to stay on as education minister, narrowly avoiding the collapse of the Netanyahu government again.9 However, continued dysfunction over various issues, including military service for the ultra-Orthodox, caused parliament to dissolve and early elections to be called for 9 April 2019.10 Had early elections not been called, the regularly-scheduled elections would have taken place seven months later, on 5 November 2019.

Electoral system

Further information: Elections in Israel

The 120 seats in the Knesset are elected by closed list proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency. The electoral threshold for the election is 3.25%. In most cases, this implies a minimum party size of four seats, but on some occasions, a party can end up with three.11

While election day was on 9 April 2019, polls opened in embassies around the world on 28 March.12

Surplus-vote agreements

Further information: D'Hondt method

Two party lists can sign an agreement that allows them to compete for leftover seats as though they are running together on the same list. The Bader–Ofer method disproportionately favors larger lists, meaning that such an alliance is more likely to receive leftover seats than both of its comprising lists would be individually. If the alliance receives leftover seats, the Bader–Ofer calculation is then applied privately, to determine how the seats are divided among the two allied lists.13 The following agreements were signed by parties prior to the election:

Parliament factions

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

The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 20th Knesset.

NameIdeologySymbolPrimary demographicLeader2015 resultSeats at 2018dissolution
Votes (%)Seats
LikudConservatismמחל‎-Benjamin Netanyahu23.40%30 / 12030 / 120
LaborSocial democracyאמת‎-Avi Gabbay18.67%1918 / 12019 / 120
HatnuaLiberalism-Tzipi Livni6 / 1205 / 120
Joint ListBig tentודעם‎Israeli ArabsAyman Odeh10.54%2011 / 12012 / 120
Ta'alArab nationalismIsraeli ArabsAhmad Tibi2 / 1201 / 120
Yesh AtidLiberalismפה‎-Yair Lapid8.81%11 / 12011 / 120
KulanuEconomic egalitarianismכ‎-Moshe Kahlon7.49%10 / 12010 / 120
Jewish HomeReligious ZionismReligious conservatismטב‎Modern Orthodox andChardal JewsRafi Peretz6.74%8 / 1205 / 120
ShasReligious conservatismשס‎Sephardic andMizrahi HaredimAryeh Deri5.73%7 / 1207 / 120
United Torah JudaismReligious conservatismג‎Ashkenazi HaredimYaakov Litzman5.03%6 / 1206 / 120
Yisrael BeiteinuNationalismSecularismל‎Russian-speakersAvigdor Lieberman5.11%6 / 1205 / 120
MeretzSocial democracySecularismמרצ‎-Tamar Zandberg3.93%5 / 1205 / 120
New RightNational conservatismנ‎-Naftali Bennett,Ayelet ShakedN/A3 / 120
Independent--Orly LevyN/A1 / 120

Public expression of interest

Withdrawals

  • Tzipi Livni announced on 18 February 2019 that her Hatnua party would not contest the election.38
  • Left-wing activist Eldad Yaniv announced on 30 December 2018 that he would re-form his 2013 party named "Eretz Hadasha", which would have run in the upcoming election,39 though Yaniv dropped out of the race following the revealing of the Gantz/Lapid joint list on 20 February 2019.40
  • The Green Leaf party announced on 20 February 2019 that it would not participate in the election.41
  • Haredi Women's College founder Adina Bar-Shalom had expressed interest in participating in the elections with her newly formed, but unregistered, party Ahi Yisraeli,4243 though the party announced its withdrawal on 26 February 2019.44
  • Yom-Tov Samia announced the withdrawal of B'Yahad on 4 March 2019.45
  • Eli Yishai announced the withdrawal of Yachad on 27 March 2019.46

Campaign

For a more comprehensive list, see Party lists for the April 2019 Israeli legislative election.

Some parties, like Likud, Labor, the Jewish Home, Zehut and Meretz, have systems in which the leadership and most candidates on their lists are elected in primary elections.

Blue and White

Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience Party and Moshe Ya'alon's Telem unveiled its party slate on 19 February 2019.47 Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party unveiled its party slate on 18 February 2019.48 On 21 February 2019, the three parties agreed to run on a united list named Blue and White.49

Union of Right-Wing Parties

The Jewish Home held its leadership primaries on 27 April 2017; Naftali Bennett won with 80.3% of the vote, Yonatan Branski received 12.2% and Yitzhak Zagha received 7.47%.50 In the aftermath of the formation of the New Right and Bennett's leaving, the Jewish Home cancelled its primaries.51 Rafi Peretz was elected leader of the Jewish Home on 4 February.52

The Tkuma party held its leadership primaries on 14 January 2019; Bezalel Smotrich defeated Uri Ariel.53

On 14 February 2019, Jewish Home agreed to run on a joint list with the Tkuma party. Jewish Home leader Rafi Peretz headed the joint list, with Tkuma chair Bezalel Smotrich as the number two.54 On 20 February 2019, they agreed to include Otzma Yehudit in their list, titled the Union of Right-Wing Parties.5556 The inclusion of Otzma Yehudit prompted strong criticism.575859

Labor

See also: 2019 Israeli Labor Party primary and 2019 Israeli Labor Party leadership election

The Labor Party held its leadership primaries on 10 July 2017; Avi Gabbay defeated Amir Peretz in the run-off, with Isaac Herzog being defeated during the first round of voting.60 The party held primaries on 11 February 2019 to choose members for its slate.61

Likud

The Likud leadership primary election was originally scheduled for 23 February 2016 following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal,62 and later cancelled by a party court on the basis that the Likud constitution did not require a vote when there was only one candidate.6364 Likud held the primary for the rest of its list on 5 February 2019, which resulted in several of Netanyahu's rivals winning senior spots.6566 Voting irregularities surfaced in the primary results. In some cases, specific candidates received more votes in some locales than the total number of ballots cast in those locales. The Likud party investigated the matter.67 In the final results, Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein came in first place, followed by Yisrael Katz, Gilad Erdan, Gideon Sa'ar and Miri Regev.68

On 26 February 2019, the "Likud TV" studio released the graves video, which raised an ire over use of military cemetery.

On 28 February 2019, the Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit, announced his intent to indict Prime Minister Netanyahu on three charges which include bribery, fraud and breach of trust. These include trading legislation for favorable press coverage.69

Meretz

See also: 2018 Meretz leadership election

Meretz held its leadership primaries on 22 March 2018; Tamar Zandberg won with 71% of the vote, Avi Buskila received 29%.70 Meretz held its primary on 14 February 2019.71

Yisrael Beiteinu

Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu released its party slate on 19 February 2019.72

Zehut

The Zehut party held Israel's first open primaries on 29 January 2019, in which all Israeli voters (including those living abroad) were able to vote via a secure online website. About 12,000 people voted in these primaries, which determined the order of the candidates who won in the party's internal primaries in September 2017.7374

Opinion polls

Main article: Opinion polling for the April 2019 Israeli legislative election

These graphs show the polling trends from the time Knesset candidate lists were finalized on 21 February, until Friday before election day (5 April).

If more than one poll was conducted on the same day, the graphs show the average of the polls for that date.

Blocs

Legend

Note: Political blocs do not necessarily determine the exact make-up of post-election coalitions.

Parties

Allegations of misconduct

The Hadash–Ta'al alliance filed a complaint requesting the removal of 1,200 concealed cameras in polling places in Arab communities.7980 A judge overseeing the election ordered the concealed equipment removed.81 The company that set up the cameras, Kaizler Inbar, bragged about its role in social media posts.82

Fake IDs were used in Herzliya and some voting slips for Blue & White, Meretz, Likud, Zehut and Yisrael Beiteinu disappeared in Petah Tikva.

Shas was criticized for giving out candles at polling stations.8384

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Likud1,140,37026.4635+5
Blue and White1,125,88126.1335+24
Shas258,2755.998+1
United Torah Judaism249,0495.788+2
Hadash–Ta'al193,4424.4960
Labor Party190,8704.436–13
Yisrael Beiteinu173,0044.015–1
Union of Right-Wing Parties159,4683.705–3
Meretz156,4733.634–1
Kulanu152,7563.544–6
United Arab List–Balad143,6663.334–3
New Right138,5983.220New
Zehut118,0312.740New
Gesher74,7011.730New
Social Security4,6180.110New
The Arab List (Mada–ANP)4,1350.1000
Social Justice3,8430.090New
Shield of Israel3,3940.080New
Justice for All3,2810.080New
Tzomet2,4170.060New
Yashar1,4380.030New
Zekhuyotenu BeKoleinu1,3160.030New
Veteran Civil1,1680.030New
Kol Yisrael Ahim1,1400.030New
Pirate Party8190.0200
Pashut Ahava7330.020New
Eretz Yisrael Shelanu7010.020New
We are all friends Na Nach6240.0100
MeHathala6030.010New
Hope for Change5620.0100
Green Economy – One Nation5560.0100
Education5180.010New
Ahrayut LaMeyasdim4280.010New
Human Dignity4040.010New
Shavim4010.010New
Social Leadership3850.010New
Ani VeAta3680.010New
Bible Bloc3530.010New
Ihud Bnei HaBrit2650.010New
Brit Olam2160.0100
Total4,309,270100.001200
Valid votes4,309,27099.29
Invalid/blank votes30,9830.71
Total votes4,340,253100.00
Registered voters/turnout6,339,72968.46
Source: CEC

Members of the Knesset who lost their seats

PartyNameYear elected
Blue and WhiteAliza Lavie2013
GesherOrly Levy2009
KulanuTali Ploskov2015
Meirav Ben-Ari2015
Akram Hasson2016
Fentahun Seyoum2019
LaborMerav Michaeli2013
Omer Bar-Lev2013
Revital Swid2015
Haim Jelin2015
Michal Biran2013
Eitan Cabel199685
Yael Cohen Paran2015
Saleh Saad2017
Leah Fadida2017
Nachman Shai2009
Moshe Mizrahi2018
LikudAyoob Kara2015
Yehuda Glick2016
Nurit Koren2015
Anat Berko2015
Yaron Mazuz2015
Avraham Neguise2015
Nava Boker2015
MeretzMossi Raz2017
New RightNaftali Bennett2013
Ayelet Shaked2013
Shuli Mualem2013
TzometOren Hazan2015
United Arab ListTalab Abu Arar2013
Said al-Harumi2017
Yisrael BeiteinuHamad Amar2009

Aftermath

Main article: 2018–2022 Israeli political crisis

Leader of Blue and White faction Benny Gantz conceded, paving the way for incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to start talks with other parties to form a governing coalition.86 On 15 and 16 April, leaders of all the parties who won seats in the Knesset met with President Reuven Rivlin to recommend a designated person to form a government. Netanyahu received recommendations from leaders representing 65 seats in the Knesset, whereas Gantz received recommendations from leaders representing only 45 seats in the Knesset. Leaders of the two Arab parties, representing 10 seats in the Knesset, declined to make any recommendation. Based on the recommendations he received, Rivlin designated Netanyahu to form the next governing coalition.87 After a month of negotiations, Netanyahu's failure to form a government led to a 74 to 45 vote in the Knesset in favour of dispersing just after midnight on 29 May 2019. The new election was scheduled for 17 September 2019.88

See also

  • Israel portal
  • Politics portal

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Israeli legislative election, April 2019.

References

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  22. "Zehut". en.idi.org.il. Retrieved 21 February 2019. https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/zehut/ ↩

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