| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Knesset / Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
10 February 2009 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in Knesset following its early dissolution on 10 November 2008. General elections had previously been held in March 2006. |
Early elections for the Knesset were called upon the expiry of the deadline for the formation of a new coalition government following Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision to resign.
In the previous elections held in March 2006
the centrist Kadima party became the largest party with 29 seats
while the right-wing Likud party
led by former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu
took 12 seats. Kadima was created in November 2005 by former prime minister Ariel Sharon on his departure from Likud. Mr. Sharon suffered a massive stroke in December 2005 and was succeeded by Mr. Olmert at the head of Kadima. Following the 2006 elections
Mr. Olmert formed a coalition government with the Labour Party
Shas (an orthodox party) and Gil (Pensioners' Party)
controlling 67 seats in the 120-member parliament.
In July 2008
due to a series of corruption scandals
Mr. Olmert announced that he would resign as prime minister. In September
Kadima elected Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as its new leader. She failed to reach a coalition agreement with other parties before the extended deadline of 26 October. On 30 October
Knesset Speaker
Ms. Dalia Itzik
set the election date for 10 February 2009
13 months earlier than the constitutional due date. The Knesset was dissolved on 10 November in view of the elections. Mr. Olmert remains the caretaker prime minister until the new government is formed.
A total of 34 parties participated in the 2009 elections. The initial polls put Kadima in the lead
with its leader
Ms. Livni
promising clean leadership and peace talks aimed at achieving a two-State solution with Palestine.
However
the election campaign took place in the shadow of Israeli military operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip that began on 27 December. The operation resulted in the death of some 1
300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis. Mr. Netanyahu criticized Kadima and the Labour Party for ending the military operations "too early"
insisting that Israel should have destroyed Hamas. Defence Minister Ehud Barak (Labour) argued that the operation had restored Israel's military deterrent and brought it back on "the right course to achieve peace and quiet".
In January 2009
the High Court of Justice overturned the Central Elections Committee's decision to disqualify two Arab parties - Balad and the United Arab List (Ta'al) - from taking part in the 2009 elections. Mr. Avigdor Lieberman
leader of the nationalist Yisrael Beitenu
criticized the court's decision
which in his view would allow the Arab parties to "kill Israel's character as a Jewish and democratic State". He pledged to pass a citizenship bill in the new legislature to "end the disloyalty shown by some of Israel's Arabs" and insisted that Israel should not enter into any peace process with the Palestinians.
In all
65.2 per cent of some 5.2 million eligible voters turned out at the polls.
Twelve parties surpassed the two-percent threshold to win parliamentary representation. As was the case in all previous elections
no party secured an outright majority. Kadima came in first with 28 seats
losing one. Likud gained 15 more seats
taking 27 in all. The leaders of both parties claimed victory. Yisrael Beitenu and the Labour Party took 15 and 13 seats respectively
followed by Shas with 11 seats. The remainder went to small parties.
On 24 February
the newly elected Knesset held its first session. On 30 March
it elected a former Speaker
Mr. Reuven Rivlin (Likud)
as its new Speaker.
In the meantime
on 20 February
President Shimon Peres designated Mr. Netanyahu (Likud) as Prime Minister. Mr. Netanyahu subsequently formed a coalition government comprising Likud
Yisrael Beiteinu
the Labour Party
Shas
the United Torah Judaism (Yahadut Hatorah) and the National Union. On 31 March
the Knesset endorsed the new government. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 10 February 2009 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
5'278'985
65.2%
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Gain/Loss |
|
|
|
| Kadima |
28
|
-1 |
|
|
|
| Likud |
27
|
15 |
|
|
|
| Yisrael Beiteinu |
15
|
4 |
|
|
|
| Labour Party |
13
|
-6 |
|
|
|
| Shas |
11
|
-1 |
|
|
|
| United Torah Judaism (Yahadut Hatorah) |
5
|
-1 |
|
|
|
| Hadash |
4
|
1 |
|
|
|
| United Arab List (Ta'al) |
4
|
0 |
|
|
|
| National Union |
4
|
|
|
|
|
| Meretz |
3
|
-2 |
|
|
|
| Jewish Home (Habayit Hayehudi) |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| National Democratic Alliance (Balad) |
3
|
0 |
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
99
21
17.50%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Note on the political parties
In the 2006 elections
the United Arab List (Ta'al) and the Arab Movement for Renewal (Ra'am) ran together and won four seats.
Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home)
was formed in 2008 under the leadership of Mr. Daniel Hershkowitz. It comprises members of the National Religious Party
which had split with the National Union.
Sources:
- Parliament (25.02.2009
01.01.2010
10.01.2010
21.04.2010
10.11.2010
13.12.2011)
- http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
