Israeli legislative election, 1961

‹ 1959 1965 ›
Elections for the 5th Knesset
15 August 1961
Party Leader % Seats +/−
Mapai David Ben-Gurion 34.7% 42  -5
Herut Menachem Begin 13.8% 17  0
Liberal Peretz Bernstein 13.6% 17  
National Religious Party Haim-Moshe Shapira 9.8% 12  0
Mapam Meir Ya'ari 7.5% 9  0
Ahdut HaAvoda Yisrael Galili 6.6% 8  +1
Maki Shmuel Mikunis 4.2% 5  
Agudat Yisrael Yitzhak-Meir Levin 3.7% 4  
Poalei Agudat Yisrael Kalman Kahana 1.9% 2  
Cooperation and Brotherhood Diyab Obeid 1.9% 2  0
Progress and Development Ahmed A-Dahar 1.6% 2  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 fifth Knesset were held in Israel on 15 August 1961. Voter turnout was 81.6%.[1]

Results

Party Votes % Seats +/−
Mapai ¹349,33034.742−5
Herut ²138,59913.8170
Liberal Party ²137,25513.617+3
National Religious Party98,7869.8120
Mapam75,6547.590
Ahdut HaAvoda66,1706.68+1
Maki ³42,1114.25+2
Agudat Yisrael37,1783.740
Poalei Agudat Yisrael19,4281.920
Cooperation and Brotherhood19,3421.920
Progress and Development16,0341.620
Progress and Work3,5610.400
Religious Sephardim List3,1810.30New
Supporters of Democracy3350.00New
Invalid/blank votes30,066---
Total1,037,0301001200
Source: Nohlen et al.

¹ Eight MKs broke away from Mapai to establish Rafi.

² Herut and the Liberal Party merged to form Gahal. Seven Liberal Party members unhappy with the decision (largely former Progressive Party members) broke away to form the Independent Liberals.

³ Two MKs broke away from Maki to establish Rakah.

The Fifth Knesset

Tenth government

The fifth Knesset started with David Ben-Gurion's Mapai party forming the tenth government on 2 November 1961. His coalition included the National Religious Party, Ahdut HaAvoda, Agudat Israel Workers, Cooperation and Brotherhood and Progress and Development, and had 13 ministers. Kadish Luz of Mapai was appointed Knesset Speaker. The government collapsed when Ben-Gurion resigned on 16 June 1963 citing personal reasons, but in reality was annoyed at a perceived lack of support from his colleagues. He later broke away from Mapai with several colleagues to form Rafi.

Eleventh government

Levi Eshkol took over Mapai and formed the eleventh government on 26 June 1963 with the same coalition partners as previously, but one more minister. The government resigned on 10 December 1964 when Ben-Gurion demanded that members of the Supreme Court investigate the Lavon Affair.

Twelfth government

Eshkol formed the twelfth government a week later on 22 December 1964 with the same coalition partners and ministers as previously.

The fifth Knesset was notable for the coalescing of the two major right-wing parties (Herut and the Liberal Party) to form an electoral block (Gahal) capable of threatening Mapai's hegemony in Israeli politics. Gahal, which by then had become Likud, finally overtook Mapai (which had merged into the Alignment) in the 1977 elections.

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