| Seventh Ben-Gurion Cabinet | |
|---|---|
 9th cabinet of Israel | |
 | |
| Date formed | 17 December 1959 |
| Date dissolved | 2 November 1961 |
| People and organisations | |
| Head of state | Yitzhak Ben-Zvi |
| Head of government | David Ben-Gurion |
| Member parties | Mapai Mapam Ahdut HaAvoda National Religious Party Progressive Party Religious Torah Front Agriculture and Development Progress and Development Cooperation and Brotherhood |
| Status in legislature | coalition |
| Opposition leader | Menachem Begin |
| History | |
| Election(s) | 1959 Israeli legislative election |
| Legislature term(s) | 4th Knesset |
| Predecessor | 8th cabinet of Israel |
| Successor | 10th cabinet of Israel |
The ninth government of Israel was formed by David Ben-Gurion on 17 December 1959 following the November 1959 elections. Ben-Gurion largely kept the same coalition partners as during the previous government (i.e. Mapai, the National Religious Party, Mapam, Ahdut HaAvoda, the Progressive Party and Agriculture and Development), and added the new Israeli Arab parties Progress and Development and Cooperation and Brotherhood.
David Ben-Gurion was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first Prime Minister of Israel.
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.
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.
Contents
The government collapsed when Ben-Gurion resigned on 31 January 1961, over a motion of no-confidence brought by Herut and the General Zionists following the publication of the findings of the Committee of Seven concerning the Lavon Affair. At the end of February Ben-Gurion informed President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi that he could not form a new government, [1] and new elections were called after the Knesset was dissolved in March.
Herut was the major right-wing nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism, and was initially known in part for its militia actions; it became more moderate from 1951.
The General Zionists were a centre-right Zionist movement and a political party in Israel. The General Zionists supported the leadership of Chaim Weizmann and their views were largely colored by central European culture. Their political arm is an ancestor of the modern-day Likud.
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.
