1961 Israeli legislative election

Elections for the fifth Knesset were held in Israel on 15 August 1961. Voter turnout was 81.6%.[1]

1961 Israeli legislative election
Israel
15 August 1961
Turnout81.57% (Decrease 0.03 pp)
PartyLeader % Seats +/–
Mapai David Ben-Gurion 34.69 42 -5
Herut Menachem Begin 13.76 17 0
Liberal Pinchas Rosen 13.63 17 +3
Mafdal Haim-Moshe Shapira 9.81 12 0
Mapam Meir Ya'ari 7.51 9 0
Ahdut HaAvoda Yisrael Galili 6.57 8 +1
Maki Shmuel Mikunis 4.18 5 +2
Agudat Yisrael Yitzhak-Meir Levin 3.69 4
PAI Kalman Kahana 1.93 2
Cooperation and Brotherhood Diyab Obeid 1.92 2 0
Progress and Development Ahmed A-Dahar 1.59 2 0
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
David Ben-Gurion
Mapai
David Ben-Gurion
Mapai

Parliament factions

The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 4th Knesset.

Name Ideology Symbol Leader 1959 result Seats at 1964
dissolution
Votes (%) Seats
Mapai Social democracy
Labor Zionism
א David Ben-Gurion 38.2%
47 / 120
47 / 120
Herut Revisionist Zionism ח Menachem Begin 13.5%
17 / 120
17 / 120
Liberal Party Liberalism ל Pinchas Rosen
Peretz Bernstein
-
0 / 120
14 / 120
National Religious Party Religious Zionism ב Haim-Moshe Shapira 9.9%
12 / 120
12 / 120
Mapam Labor Zionism
Socialism
מ Meir Ya'ari 7.2%
9 / 120
9 / 120
General Zionists Liberalism צ Yosef Sapir 6.2%
8 / 120
0 / 120
Ahdut HaAvoda Labor Zionism תו Yisrael Galili 6.0%
7 / 120
7 / 120
Agudat Yisrael Religious conservatism ג Yitzhak-Meir Levin 4.7%[lower-alpha 1]
3 / 120
3 / 120
Poalei Agudat Yisrael Religious conservatism ד Kalman Kahana
3 / 120
3 / 120
Progressive Party Liberalism
Progressivism
פ Pinchas Rosen 4.6%
6 / 120
0 / 120
Maki Communism ק Shmuel Mikunis 2.8%
3 / 120
3 / 120
Progress and Development Arab satellite list רא Ahmed A-Dahar 1.3%
2 / 120
2 / 120
Cooperation and Brotherhood Arab satellite list יא Labib Hussein Abu Rokan 1.1%
2 / 120
2 / 120
Agriculture and Development Arab satellite list ע Mahmud Al-Nashaf 1.1%
1 / 120
1 / 120

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Mapai349,33034.6942−5
Herut138,59913.76170
Liberal Party137,25513.6317+3
National Religious Party98,7869.81120
Mapam75,6547.5190
Ahdut HaAvoda66,1706.578+1
Maki42,1114.185+2
Agudat Yisrael37,1783.6940
Poalei Agudat Yisrael19,4281.9320
Cooperation and Brotherhood19,3421.9220
Progress and Development16,0341.5920
Progress and Work3,5610.3500
Religious Sephardim List3,1810.320New
Supporters of Democracy3350.030New
Total1,006,964100.001200
Valid votes1,006,96497.10
Invalid/blank votes30,0662.90
Total votes1,037,030100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,271,28581.57
Source: IDI, Nohlen et al.

Aftermath

During the Knesset term, eight MKs broke away from Mapai to establish Rafi and two MKs left Maki to establish Rakah. Herut and the Liberal Party merged to form Gahal. Seven Liberal Party members unhappy with the decision (largely former Progressive Party members) broke away to form the Independent Liberals.

Tenth government

The fifth Knesset started with David Ben-Gurion's Mapai party forming the tenth government on 2 November 1961. His coalition included the National Religious Party, Ahdut HaAvoda, Agudat Israel Workers, Cooperation and Brotherhood and Progress and Development, and had 13 ministers. Kadish Luz of Mapai was appointed Knesset Speaker. The government collapsed when Ben-Gurion resigned on 16 June 1963 citing personal reasons, but in reality was annoyed at a perceived lack of support from his colleagues. He later broke away from Mapai with several colleagues to form Rafi.

Eleventh government

Levi Eshkol took over Mapai and formed the eleventh government on 26 June 1963 with the same coalition partners as previously, but one more minister. The government resigned on 10 December 1964 when Ben-Gurion demanded that members of the Supreme Court investigate the Lavon Affair.

Twelfth government

Eshkol formed the twelfth government a week later on 22 December 1964 with the same coalition partners and ministers as previously.

The fifth Knesset was notable for the coalescing of the two major right-wing parties (Herut and the Liberal Party) to form an electoral block (Gahal) capable of threatening Mapai's hegemony in Israeli politics. Gahal, which by then had become Likud, finally overtook Mapai (which had merged into the Alignment) in the 1977 elections.

Notes

  1. Agudat Yisrael and PAI ran as a joint list called Religious Torah Front.

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p124 ISBN 0-19-924958-X
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