Sixteenth government of Israel

The sixteenth government of Israel was formed by Golda Meir on 10 March 1974, following the December 1973 elections. However, following Meir's resignation as Prime Minister on 11 April, it only remained in office until 3 June, and at just 85 days, was the shortest-lived government in Israeli political history.[1]

Third Meir Cabinet

16th Cabinet of Israel
Date formed10 March 1974 (1974-03-10)
Date dissolved3 June 1974 (1974-06-03)
People and organisations
Head of stateEphraim Katzir
Head of governmentGolda Meir
Member partiesAlignment
National Religious Party
Independent Liberals
Progress and Development
Arab List for Bedouin and Villagers
Status in legislatureCoalition
Opposition leaderMenachem Begin
History
Election(s)1973 Israeli legislative election
Legislature term(s)8th Knesset
Predecessor15th Cabinet of Israel
Successor17th Cabinet of Israel

Meir's coalition consisted of only three parties; the Alignment, the National Religious Party and the Independent Liberals, although the two Israeli Arab Alignment-affiliated parties (Progress and Development and the Arab List for Bedouins and Villagers) had merged into the Alignment following the election, and held 68 of the 120 seats in the Knesset. The government initially had 22 ministers, although Minister of Welfare Michael Hasani resigned on 4 April and was not replaced. Nine of the ministers were non-Knesset members, although two of them (both from the Independent Liberals) had been elected to the Knesset in the recent election, but resigned after being appointed to the cabinet. Unlike the previous government, in which there were nine deputy ministerial portfolios, the sixteenth government had only one deputy minister, who was not appointed until 6 May.

Despite her government being praised for its administration, Meir resigned on 11 April 1974 after the Agranat Commission had published its interim report on the Yom Kippur War.[2] The government remained in office whilst the Labor Party (the largest faction within the Alignment) elected a new leader who would attempt to form a new government. On 26 April Yitzhak Rabin, then Minister of Labour, defeated Shimon Peres, the Minister of Information, in the party's leadership contest. Rabin went on to form the seventeenth government on 3 June 1974.

Israeli government formation, March 1974

10 March 1974
 
Nominee Golda Meir Menachem Begin
Party Alignment Likud
Electoral vote 68 52
Percentage 56.7% 43.3%

Prime Minister before election

Golda Meir
Alignment

Elected Prime Minister

Golda Meir
Alignment

Cabinet members

Position Person Party
Prime Minister Golda Meir Alignment
Deputy Prime Minister Yigal Allon Alignment
Minister of Agriculture Haim Gvati Not an MK 1
Minister of Communications Aharon Uzan Not an MK 1
Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan Alignment
Minister of Development Haim Bar-Lev Not an MK 2
Minister of Education and Culture Yigal Allon Alignment
Minister of Finance Pinhas Sapir Alignment
Minister of Foreign Affairs Abba Eban Alignment
Minister of Health Victor Shem-Tov Not an MK 1
Minister of Housing Yehoshua Rabinovitz Not an MK 2
Minister of Immigrant Absorption Shlomo Rosen Not an MK 1
Minister of Information Shimon Peres Alignment
Minister of Internal Affairs Yosef Burg National Religious Party
Minister of Justice Haim Yosef Zadok Alignment
Minister of Labour Yitzhak Rabin Alignment
Minister of Police Shlomo Hillel Alignment
Minister of Religions Yitzhak Rafael National Religious Party
Minister of Tourism Moshe Kol Not an MK 3
Minister of Trade and Industry Haim Bar-Lev Not an MK 2
Minister of Transportation Aharon Yariv Alignment
Minister of Welfare Michael Hasani (until 4 April 1974) National Religious Party
Minister without Portfolio Yisrael Galili Alignment
Gideon Hausner Not an MK 3
Deputy Minister of Communications Jabr Muadi (from 6 May 1974) Alignment

1 Although Gvati, Rosen, Shem-Tov and Uzan were not members of the Knesset at the time, they had previously been MKs for the Alignment.

2 Although Bar-Lev and Rabinovitz were not MKs at the time, they were later elected to the Knesset on the Alignment list.

3 Kol and Hausner had been elected to the Knesset on the Independent Liberals list, but resigned their seats after being appointed to the cabinet.

References

  1. 1974 timeline Archived 2008-12-03 at the Wayback Machine Jewish Agency for Israel
  2. The Eighth Knesset Knesset website
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