| First Eshkol Cabinet | |
|---|---|
 11th cabinet of Israel | |
 | |
| Date formed | 26 June 1963 |
| Date dissolved | 22 December 1964 |
| People and organisations | |
| Head of state | Zalman Shazar |
| Head of government | Levi Eshkol |
| Member parties | Mapai National Religious Party Ahdut HaAvoda Poalei Agudat Yisrael Cooperation and Brotherhood Progress and Development |
| Status in legislature | coalition |
| Opposition leader | Menachem Begin |
| History | |
| Legislature term(s) | 5th Knesset |
| Predecessor | 10th Cabinet of Israel |
| Successor | 12th cabinet of Israel |
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.
Elections for the fifth Knesset were held in Israel on 15 August 1961. Voter turnout was 81.6%.
Levi Eshkol was an Israeli statesman who served as the third Prime Minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. A founder of the Israeli Labor Party, he served in numerous senior roles, including Minister of Defense (1963–1967) and Minister of Finance (1952–1963).
David Ben-Gurion was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first Prime Minister of Israel. He was the preeminent leader of the Jewish community in British Mandate Palestine from 1935 until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, which he led until 1963 with a short break in 1954-55.
Contents
Eshkol kept the same coalition partners as previously, i.e. Mapai, the National Religious Party, Ahdut HaAvoda, Poalei Agudat Yisrael, Cooperation and Brotherhood and Progress and Development. There were few changes, with Eshkol replacing Ben-Gurion in the dual role of Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Pinhas Sapir replacing Eshkol as Minister of Finance, and Abba Eban replacing Zalman Aran as Education Minister, as well as becoming the country's second Deputy Prime Minister. Eshkol presented it as a "government of continuity". [1] Deputy Ministers were appointed on 1 July.
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.
Mapai was a centre-left 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.
The National Religious Party was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist movement. Formed in 1956, at the time of its dissolution in 2008, it was the second-oldest surviving party in the country after Agudat Yisrael, and was part of every government coalition until 1992. Traditionally a practical centrist party, in its later years, it drifted to the right, becoming increasingly associated with Israeli settlers, and towards the end of its existence, it was part of a political alliance with the strongly right-wing National Union. The 2006 elections saw the party slump to just three seats, the worst electoral performance in its history. In November 2008, party members voted to disband the party in order to join the new Jewish Home party created by a merger of the NRP and most of the National Union factions. However, most of the National Union left the merger shortly after its implementation.
The government resigned following the resignation of Eshkol on 14 December 1964. Eshkol had quit over a dispute with Ben-Gurion concerning the Lavon Affair, which Ben Gurion had demanded that the Supreme Court investigate. The twelfth government was formed a week later.
The Lavon affair was a failed Israeli covert operation, codenamed Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the summer of 1954. As part of the false flag operation, a group of Egyptian Jews were recruited by Israeli military intelligence to plant bombs inside Egyptian-, American-, and British-owned civilian targets: cinemas, libraries, and American educational centers. The bombs were timed to detonate several hours after closing time. The attacks were to be blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian Communists, "unspecified malcontents" or "local nationalists" with the aim of creating a climate of sufficient violence and instability to induce the British government to retain its occupying troops in Egypt's Suez Canal zone. The operation caused no casualties among the population, but cost the lives of four operatives: two cell members who committed suicide after being captured; and two operatives who were tried, convicted, and executed by the Egyptian authorities.
The Supreme Court is the highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction.
The twelfth government of Israel was formed by Levi Eshkol on 22 December 1964, towards the end of the fifth Knesset.
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