Israeli legislative election, 1959

‹ 1955 1961 ›
Elections for the 4th Knesset
3 November 1959
Party Leader % Seats +/−
Mapai David Ben-Gurion 38.2% 47  +7
Herut Menachem Begin 13.5% 17  +2
National Religious Party Haim-Moshe Shapira 9.9% 12  
Mapam Meir Ya'ari 7.2% 9  0
General Zionists Yosef Sapir 6.2% 8  -5
Ahdut HaAvoda Yisrael Galili 6.0% 7  -3
Religious Torah Front Yitzhak-Meir Levin 4.7% 6  0
Progressive Party Pinchas Rosen 4.6% 6  +1
Maki Shmuel Mikunis 2.8% 3  -3
Progress and Development Ahmed A-Dahar 1.3% 2  
Cooperation and Brotherhood Labib Abu Rokan 1.1% 2  
Agriculture and Development Mahmud Al-Nashaf 1.1% 1  0
Note – The above list contains only the parties which passed the threshold.

See complete expanded list in the full table below.

Prime Minister before election

David Ben-Gurion
Mapai

 Subsequent Prime Minister

David Ben-Gurion
Mapai

Elections for the fourth Knesset were held in Israel on 3 November 1959. Voter turnout was 81.5%.[1]

Results

Party Votes % Seats +/−
Mapai370,58538.247+7
Herut130,51513.517+2
National Religious Party95,5819.912+1
Mapam69,4687.290
General Zionists ¹59,7006.28−5
Ahdut HaAvoda58,0436.07−3
Religious Torah Front ²45,5694.760
Progressive Party ¹44,8894.66+1
Maki27,3742.83−3
Progress and Development12,3471.32New
Cooperation and Brotherhood11,1041.12New
Agriculture and Development10,9021.110
Union of North African Immigrants8,1990.80New
Progress and Work4,6510.50−2
Independent Faction for Israeli Arabs3,8180.40New
Israeli Arab Labour Party3,3690.30New
Sephardi National Party3,1330.30New
National Union2,4560.200
Holocaust Handicapped and Injured Faction1,7650.20New
Yemenite Faction1,7110.200
Independents1,6110.20New
Socialist Union (Bund)1,3220.10New
New Immigrants Front6310.100
Third Power5940.10New
Invalid/blank votes24,967---
Total994,3061001200
Source: Nohlen et al.

¹ The General Zionists and the Progressive Party merged to form the Liberal Party.

² The Religious Torah Front split into its two constituent parts, Agudat Yisrael (four seats) and Poalei Agudat Yisrael (two seats).

The Fourth Knesset

The fourth Knesset started with David Ben-Gurion's Mapai party forming the 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 government collapsed when Ben-Gurion resigned on 31 January 1961, over a motion of no-confidence brought by Herut and the General Zionists concerning the Lavon Affair. After Ben-Gurion was unable to form a new government new elections were called. At only one year and nine months, the fourth Knesset is the shortest Knesset term to date.

References

  1. ↑ Nohlen, D, Grotz, F & Hartmann, C (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p124 ISBN 0-19-924958-X

External links