1959 Israeli legislative election

Last updated
Elections for the 4th Knesset
Flag of Israel.svg
  1955 3 November 1959 1961  

All 120 seats in the Knesset
61 seats needed for a majority
Turnout81.6% (Decrease2.svg 1.2 pp)
PartyLeaderVote %Seats+/–
Mapai David Ben-Gurion 38.247+7
Herut Menachem Begin 13.517+2
Mafdal Haim-Moshe Shapira 9.912+1
Mapam Meir Ya'ari 7.290
General Zionists Yosef Sapir 6.28−5
Ahdut HaAvoda Yisrael Galili 6.07−3
Religious Torah Front Yitzhak-Meir Levin 4.760
Progressive Party Pinchas Rosen 4.66+1
Maki Shmuel Mikunis 2.83−3
Progress and Development Ahmed A-Dahar 1.32New
Cooperation and Brotherhood Labib Abu Rokan 1.12New
Agriculture and Development Mahmud Al-Nashaf 1.110
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Prime Minister beforePrime Minister after
David Ben-Gurion
Mapai
David Ben-Gurion
Mapai

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.

Contents

Voter turnout was 81.6%. [1]

Results

1959 Knesset.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Mapai 370,58538.2347+7
Herut 130,51513.4617+2
National Religious Party 95,5819.8612+1
Mapam 69,4687.1790
General Zionists 59,7006.168−5
Ahdut HaAvoda 58,0435.997−3
Religious Torah Front 45,5694.7060
Progressive Party 44,8894.636+1
Maki 27,3742.823−3
Progress and Development 12,3471.272New
Cooperation and Brotherhood 11,1041.152New
Agriculture and Development 10,9021.1210
Union of North African Immigrants 8,1990.850New
Progress and Work 4,6510.480−2
Independent Faction for Israeli Arabs3,8180.390New
Israeli Arab Labour Party3,3690.350New
Sephardi National Party3,1330.320New
National Union 2,4560.2500
Holocaust Handicapped and Injured Faction1,7650.180New
Yemenite Faction 1,7110.1800
Independents1,6110.170New
Socialist Union (Bund) 1,3220.140New
New Immigrants Front6310.0700
Third Power5940.060New
Total969,337100.001200
Valid votes969,33797.49
Invalid/blank votes24,9672.51
Total votes994,304100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,218,48381.60
Source: IDI, Nohlen et al.

Aftermath

The government collapsed when Ben-Gurion resigned on 31 January 1961, over a motion of no-confidence brought by Herut and the General Zionists in the wake of the Lavon Affair. When Ben-Gurion was unable to form a new government new elections were called. Serving one year and nine months, the fourth Knesset was the shortest Knesset term until the five-month twenty-first Knesset in 2019.

See also

References

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