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| Turnout | 75.1% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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Elections for the second Knesset were held in Israel on 30 July 1951. Voter turnout was 75.1%. [1]
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| Turnout | 75.1% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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Elections for the second Knesset were held in Israel on 30 July 1951. Voter turnout was 75.1%. [1]
 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
| Mapai | 256,456 | 37.30 | 45 | −1 | |
| General Zionists | 111,394 | 16.20 | 20 | +13 | |
| Mapam | 86,095 | 12.52 | 15 | −4 | |
| Hapoel HaMizrachi | 46,347 | 6.74 | 8 | +1 | |
| Herut | 45,651 | 6.64 | 8 | −6 | |
| Maki | 27,334 | 3.98 | 5 | +1 | |
| Progressive Party | 22,171 | 3.22 | 4 | −1 | |
| Democratic List for Israeli Arabs | 16,370 | 2.38 | 3 | New | |
| Agudat Yisrael | 13,799 | 2.01 | 3 | +1 | |
| Sephardim and Oriental Communities | 12,002 | 1.75 | 2 | −2 | |
| Poalei Agudat Yisrael | 11,194 | 1.63 | 2 | −1 | |
| Mizrachi | 10,383 | 1.51 | 2 | −2 | |
| Progress and Work | 8,067 | 1.17 | 1 | New | |
| Yemenite Association | 7,965 | 1.16 | 1 | 0 | |
| Agriculture and Development | 7,851 | 1.14 | 1 | New | |
| Sepharadim-Ashkenazim Unity | 4,038 | 0.59 | 0 | New | |
| For New Immigrants and Freed Soldiers | 375 | 0.05 | 0 | New | |
| Total | 687,492 | 100.00 | 120 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 687,492 | 98.92 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 7,515 | 1.08 | |||
| Total votes | 695,007 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 924,885 | 75.15 | |||
| Source: IDI, Nohlen et al. | |||||
The second Knesset was highly unstable, with four separate governments, two different Prime Ministers and several defections; Rostam Bastuni, Avraham Berman and Moshe Sneh left Mapam and set up the Left Faction. Bastuni later returned to Mapam whilst Berman and Sneh joined Maki. Hannah Lamdan and David Livschitz also left Mapam, establishing the Faction independent of Ahdut HaAvoda before joining Mapai. Four other members left Mapam to found Ahdut HaAvoda – Poale Zion, but the move was not recognised by the Knesset speaker. During the Knesset term, Sephardim and Oriental Communities joined the General Zionists.
As with the first Knesset, the speaker was Yosef Sprinzak.
The second Knesset started with David Ben-Gurion forming the third government of Israel (the first Knesset had two governments) on 8 October 1951. His Mapai party formed a coalition with Mizrachi, Hapoel HaMizrachi, Agudat Yisrael, Agudat Yisrael Workers and the three Israeli Arab parties, the Democratic List for Israeli Arabs, Progress and Work and Agriculture and Development. Like the first Knesset, there were 15 ministers. The government resigned on 19 December 1952 due to a dispute with the religious parties over religious education.
Ben-Gurion formed the fourth government on 24 December 1952, dropping the ultra-orthodox parties (Agudat Yisrael and Agudat Yisrael Workers) and replacing them with the General Zionists and the Progressive Party. The new government had 16 ministers. Ben-Gurion resigned on 6 December 1953 as he wished to settle in the Negev kibbutz of Sde Boker.
Moshe Sharett formed the fifth government on 26 January 1954 with the same coalition partners and ministers. Sharett resigned on 29 June 1955, when the General Zionists refused to abstain from voting on a motion of no-confidence brought by Herut and Maki over the government's position on the trial of Malchiel Gruenwald, who had accused Rudolf Kastner of collaborating with the Nazis.
Sharett formed the sixth government on 29 June 1955, eliminating the General Zionists and the Progressive Party from the coalition and reducing the number of ministers to 12. The new government did not last long, as a general election was called for 26 July 1955.
Mapai was a democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the modern-day Israeli Labor Party in 1968. During Mapai's time in office, a wide range of progressive reforms were carried out, as characterised by the establishment of a welfare state, providing minimum income, security, and free access to housing subsidies and health and social services.
Rafi was a center-left political party in Israel, founded by former Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion in 1965. In 1968 it was one of three parties that merged to form the Israeli Labor Party.
Elections for the third Knesset were held in Israel on 26 July 1955. Voter turnout was 82.8%.
Hapoel HaMizrachi was a political party and settlement movement in Israel. It was one of the predecessors of the National Religious Party and the Jewish Home.
Legislative elections were held in Israel on 3 November 1959 to elect the 120 members of the fourth Knesset. Mapai remained the dominant party, gaining seven seats. Following the elections, Mapai leader David Ben-Gurion formed ninth government on 17 December 1959. His coalition included the National Religious Party, Mapam, Ahdut HaAvoda, the Progressive Party and the three Israeli Arab parties, Progress and Development, Cooperation and Brotherhood and Agriculture and Development. The government had 16 ministers. Mapai's Kadish Luz became the Speaker of the Knesset.
Mizrachi was a political party in Israel, and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Jewish Home Party.
Elections for the fifth Knesset were held in Israel on 15 August 1961. Voter turnout was 81.6%.
The Faction independent of Ahdut HaAvoda was a short-lived political party in Israel.
Elections for the sixth Knesset were held in Israel on 2 November 1965. Voter turnout was 85.9%.
The Alignment was the name of two political alliances in Israel, both of which ended their existence by merging into the Israeli Labor Party.
The fifth government of Israel was formed by Moshe Sharett during the second Knesset on 26 January 1954, and was the first government not led by David Ben-Gurion. Sharett kept the same coalition partners as during the fourth government, i.e. Mapai, the General Zionists, the Progressive Party, Mizrachi, Hapoel HaMizrachi, the Democratic List for Israeli Arabs, Progress and Work and Agriculture and Development.
The seventh government of Israel was formed by David Ben-Gurion on 3 November 1955 following the July 1955 elections. His coalition included Mapai, the National Religious Front, Mapam, Ahdut HaAvoda, and the Israeli Arab parties, the Democratic List for Israeli Arabs, Progress and Work and Agriculture and Development.
The eighth government of Israel was formed by David Ben-Gurion on 7 January 1958, and was the second government of the third Knesset. Ben-Gurion kept the same coalition partners as during the previous government, i.e. Mapai, the National Religious Party, Mapam, Ahdut HaAvoda, the Progressive Party, the Democratic List for Israeli Arabs, Progress and Work and Agriculture and Development. The only change to the cabinet was the addition of Shlomo-Yisrael Ben-Meir as a Deputy Minister.
The tenth government of Israel was formed on 2 November 1961 following the August elections. Although David Ben-Gurion was appointed Prime Minister, the government was actually formed by Minister of Finance Levi Eshkol. On 7 September Ben-Gurion had told President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi that he was unable to form a government; on 14 September Ben-Zvi asked Eshkol to form a government, with Eshkol subsequently announcing that he would do so with Ben-Gurion as PM. It turned out to be the last government led by Ben-Gurion.
The eleventh government of Israel was formed on 26 June 1963, midway through the fifth Knesset. It was the first government formed by Levi Eshkol following the second resignation of David Ben-Gurion.
The twelfth government of Israel was formed by Levi Eshkol on 22 December 1964, towards the end of the fifth Knesset.
The Left Faction was a short-lived political party in Israel.
Mapam was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.
Ahdut HaAvoda was the name used by a series of political parties. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the period of British Mandate and later became part of the Israeli political establishment. It was one of the forerunners of the modern-day Israeli Labor Party.
Maki was a communist political party in Israel.
