Israeli legislative election, 1977
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The Elections for the ninth Knesset were held on 17 May 1977. The dramatic shift in Israeli politics caused by the outcome led to it becoming known as "the revolution" (Hebrew: המהפך, HaMahapakh), a phrase coined by TV anchor Haim Yavin when he announced the election results live on television with the words "Ladies and gentlemen - revolution!" (Hebrew: !גבירותי ורבותי - מהפך, Gviroti veRevoti - Mahapakh!). Voter turnout was 78.2%, the highest level since 1965.
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[edit] Results
| Party | Votes | % of vote | Seats at start of session |
Seats at end of session |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Likud 1 3 4 8 10 | 583,968 | 33.4% | 43 | 40 |
| Alignment 6 7 | 430,023 | 24.6% | 32 | 33 |
| Dash 2 | 202,265 | 11.6% | 15 | 0 |
| National Religious Party | 160,787 | 9.2% | 12 | 12 |
| Hadash | 80,118 | 4.6% | 5 | 5 |
| Agudat Israel | 58,652 | 3.3% | 4 | 4 |
| Development and Peace 11 | 35,049 | 2.0% | 1 | 1 |
| Shlomtzion 1 | 33,947 | 1.9% | 2 | 0 |
| Left Camp of Israel 9 | 27,281 | 1.6% | 2 | 1 |
| United Arab List | 24,185 | 1.4% | 1 | 1 |
| Agudat Israel Workers | 23,571 | 1.3% | 1 | 1 |
| Ratz | 20,621 | 1.2% | 1 | 1 |
| Independent Liberals | 20,384 | 1.2% | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 1,747,820 | 100% | 120 | 120 |
| Shinui 2 6 10 | - | - | 0 | 5 |
| Telem 7 8 | - | - | 0 | 4 |
| Tehiya 4 | - | - | 0 | 2 |
| Unity Party 9 | - | - | 0 | 2 |
| Ahva 5 7 | - | - | 0 | 1 |
| One Israel 1 | - | - | 0 | 1 |
| Ya'ad 2 | - | - | 0 | 1 |
| Yosef Tamir 10 | - | - | 0 | 1 |
| Yigael Yadin 5 | - | - | 0 | 1 |
| Binyamin Halevy 5 | - | - | 0 | 1 |
| Shmuel Tamir 5 | - | - | 0 | 1 |
| Democratic Movement 2 5 | - | - | 0 | 0 |
| Rafi – National List 3 7 | - | - | 0 | 0 |
1 Shlomtzion merged into Likud, but Yitzhak Yitzhaky later broke away to form One Israel.
2 When Dash broke up, seven MKs founded Shinui, seven founded the Democratic Movement, and Assaf Yaguri founded Ya'ad.
3 Three Likud MKs broke away to form Rafi – National List, one later returned.
4 Two Likud MKs broke away to form Tehiya
5 The Democratic Movement split up when three MKs founded Ahva and Yigal Yadin, Binyamin Halevi, Mordechai Elgrably and Shmuel Tamir left to sit as independents.
6 Zeidan Atashi and David Golomb defected from Shinui to the Alignment.
7 Moshe Dayan left the Alignment and formed Telem with two members of Rafi – National List and Shafik Asaad.
8 Shafik Asaad defected from Ahva to Telem, whilst Akiva Nof joined Likud
9 Saadia Marciano left the Left Camp of Israel and formed the Unity Party with independent MK, Mordechai Elgrably.
10 Yosef Tamir defected from Likud to Shinui, but then left to sit as an independent.
11 Development and Peace won enough votes for two seats, but was a one-man party.
[edit] Non-qualifiers
The following parties did not cross the 1% (14,173 votes) electoral threshold:
[edit] The election
The result of the 1977 election was a huge turning point in Israel's political history. For the first time, the left-wing lost an election, with the Alignment's share of the vote reduced by more than a third. This allowed the right-wing to take power for the first time since Israeli independence in 1948. The left's spectacular loss of power was attributed to three major causes; the disastrous Yom Kippur War in 1973, allegations of corruption and nepotism (such as the Dollar Account affair and the Yadlin affair), and a perceived favouring of Ashkenazi (European) Jews over Mizrahi Jews (from North Africa and the Middle East).
Also noteworthy was the emergence of Dash as the third largest party. However, once it became clear that Begin did not need them in the coalition (he still commanded a majority without them), the party broke up and disappeared as fast as it had appeared (ironically, one of its offshoots Shinui gained a sudden burst of popularity in the 2003 elections, also gaining 15 seats, before splitting up and losing them all in the next election).
[edit] The Ninth Knesset
Menachem Begin of Likud formed the eighteenth government on 20 June, 1977, including Shlomtzion, the National Religious Party, Agudat Israel, and the Democratic Movement for Change in his coalition. The government had 19 ministers, controversially including Moshe Dayan of the Alignment. This resulted in Dayan's expulsion from the party and him forming Telem. When Dash collapsed, many of its members went into opposition, but Begin retained a majority in the Knesset.
Aside from the spectacular fall of Dash, the controversial Camp David Accords and the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty which resulted in an Israeli withdrawal from Sinai were to blame for much of the upheaval within the eighth Knesset, especially the numerous breakaways from Begin's Likud. Indeed, Begin relied on opposition votes to pass the treaty in the Knesset as several party members, including future Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Yitzhak Shamir objected to it and abstained from voting.
Another notable event was the assassination of United Arab List MK Hamad Abu Rabia by the sons of party rival Jabr Moade after Abu Rabia allegedly refused to give up his seat as had been decided in a rotation agreement. Despite his sons' actions, Moade replaced Abu Rabia in the Knesset.
[edit] External links
- Historical overview of the Ninth Knesset Knesset website (English)
- Factional and Government Make-Up of the Ninth Knesset Knesset website (English)
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