The
ElectionsElections in Israel are based on nationwide proportional representation. The electoral threshold is currently set at 2%, with the number of seats a party receives in the Knesset being proportional to the number of votes it receives. The Knesset is elected for a four-year term, although most...
for the eighth Knesset were held on 31 December 1973. Voter turnout was 78.6%.
Results
| Party |
Votes |
% |
Seats |
+/- |
| Alignment The Alignment was an alliance of the major left-wing parties in Israel between the 1960s and 1990s. It was established in 1965 as an alliance of Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda but was dissolved three years later when the two parties and Rafi formally merged into the Israeli Labor Party...
1 4 5 6 |
621,183 |
39.6 |
51 |
LikudLikud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
2 |
473,309 |
30.2 |
39 |
7
| National Religious Party 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...
|
130,349 |
8.3 |
10 |
| Religious Torah Front The Religious Torah Front was a political alliance in Israel composed of Agudat Yisrael and Poalei Agudat Yisrael.-History:The Religious Torah Front was formed when the Ultra-orthodox parties Agudat Yisrael and Poalei Agudat Yisrael decided to fight the 1955 elections on a joint list.In the...
3 |
60,012 |
3.8 |
5 |
| Independent Liberals The Independent Liberals were a political party in Israel between the 1960s and 1980s.-History:The Independent Liberals party was formed during the fifth Knesset in the aftermath of the merger of the Liberal Party and Herut. Seven of the 17 Liberal Party MKs led by former Minister of Justice,...
2 |
56,560 |
3.6 |
4 |
0 |
| Rakah |
53,353 |
3.4 |
4 |
1
| Ratz 1 |
35,023 |
2.2 |
3 |
New |
| Progress and Development Progress and Development was a political party in Israel.-History:Progress and Development was an Israeli Arab organisation formed to fight the 1959 elections...
4 |
22,604 |
1.4 |
2 |
0 |
| Moked Moked was a left-wing political party in Israel.-Background:Moked came into existence during the seventh Knesset, when Maki merged with the Blue-Red Movement, which was unrepresented....
|
22,147 |
1.4 |
1 |
New |
| Arab List for Bedouin and Villagers 4 |
16,408 |
1.0 |
1 |
New |
| |
|
|
|
| Black Panthers |
13,332 |
0.9 |
0 |
New |
| Kach Kach was a far-right political party in Israel. Founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane in the early 1970s, and following his Jewish nationalist ideology , the party entered the Knesset in 1984 after several electoral failures...
|
12,811 |
0.8 |
0 |
New |
| Meri Meri , lit. Israeli Radical Camp) was a small radical left-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in the 1960s as HaOlam HaZeh – Koah Hadash by Uri Avnery, editor of HaOlam HaZeh.-History:...
|
10,469 |
0.7 |
0 |
| Movement for Social Equality |
10,202 |
0.7 |
0 |
New |
| Cooperation and Brotherhood Cooperation and Brotherhood was a political party in Israel.-History:Cooperation and Brotherhood was an Israeli Arab organisation formed to participate in the 1959 elections...
|
9,949 |
0.6 |
0 |
| Blue White Panthers |
5,945 |
0.4 |
0 |
New |
| Brotherhood Movement |
4,433 |
0.3 |
0 |
New |
| Israeli Arab List |
3,269 |
0.2 |
0 |
New |
| Yemenite List The Yemenite Association was a political party in Israel.-History:The party was founded by Yemenite Jews in 1923. It took part in Israel's first elections in 1949, crossing the electoral threshold by just 53 votes, and winning one seat, which was taken by Zecharia Glosca.Despite the influx of...
|
3,195 |
0.2 |
0 |
New |
| Socialist Revolution List |
1,201 |
0.1 |
0 |
New |
| Popular Movement |
1,101 |
0.1 |
0 |
New |
| Invalid/blank votes |
34,243 |
| Total |
1,601,098 |
100 |
120 |
0 |
| Source: Nohlen et al |
1 Aryeh EliavArie "Lova" Eliav, born Lev Lipschitz , , was an Israeli politician and former member of the Knesset.-Biography:...
left the Alignment and merged with Ratz to form Ya'ad - Civil Rights Movement. The new party later broke up when Eliav and
Marcia FreedmanMarcia Freedman is an American-Israeli activist on behalf of peace, women's rights, and gay rights. In the early 1970s she helped create and lead the feminist movement in Israel...
left to set up the
Independent Socialist FactionThe Independent Socialist Faction was a political party in Israel in the 1970s.-Background:The party was established on 27 January 1976, during the eighth Knesset, as the Social-Democratic Faction, when Aryeh Eliav and Marcia Freedman left Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement. Prior to its creation,...
, whilst
Shulamit AloniShulamit Aloni is an Israeli politician and left-wing activist. She is a prominent member of the Israeli peace camp, founded the Ratz party and was leader of the Meretz party and served as Minister of Education from 1992 to 1993.-Biography:...
and
Boaz Moav-Biography:Born in Tel Aviv during the Mandate era, Moav was a member of HaNoar HaOved youth movement. He attended Tel Aviv University and the University of Pennsylvania, where he was awarded a PhD in microbiology...
returned to Ratz.
2 Hillel SeidelHillel Seidel was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Independent Liberals and Likud between 1974 and 1981.-Biography:...
defected from the Independent Liberals to Likud.
3 The Religious Torah Front broke up into Agudat Yisrael (three seats) and Poalei Agudat Yisrael (two seats).
4 Progress and Development and the Arab List for Bedouins and Villagers merged into the Alignment (with which they were already associated) before breaking away to form the
United Arab ListThe United Arab List was an Israeli Arab political party in Israel during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is not connected to the modern day United Arab List.-Background:...
).
5 Mordechai Ben-Porat broke away from the Alignment and remained a single MK.
6 Mapam broke away from the Alignment but rejoined it soon after.
The Eighth Knesset
Golda MeirGolda Meir ; May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978) was a teacher, kibbutznik and politician who became the fourth Prime Minister of the State of Israel....
of the Alignment formed the
sixteenth governmentThe sixteenth government of Israel was formed by Golda Meir on 10 March 1974, following the December 1973 elections. However, following Meir's resignation as Prime Minister on 11 April, it only remained in office until 3 June, and at just 85 days, was the shortest-lived government in Israeli...
on 10 March 1974, including the National Religious Party and the Independent Liberals in her coalition, with 22 ministers. Meir resigned on 11 April 1974 after the
Agranat CommissionThe Agranat Commission was a National Commision of Inquiry set up to investigate failings in the Israel Defense Forces in the prelude to the Yom Kippur War, when Israel was found unprepared for the Egyptian attack against the Bar Lev Line and a simultaneous attack by Syria in the Golan — the first...
had published its interim report on the
Yom Kippur WarThe Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
.
The Alignment's
Yitzhak Rabin' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
formed the
seventeenth governmentThe seventeenth government of Israel was formed by Yitzhak Rabin on 3 June 1974, following the resignation of Prime Minister Golda Meir on 11 April and Rabin's election as Labor Party leader on 26 April...
on 3 June 1974, including Ratz, the Independent Liberals, Progress and Development and the Arab List for Bedouins and Villagers. The new government had 19 ministers. The National Religious Party joined the coalition on 30 October and Ratz left on the 6 November, by which time there were 21 ministers.
The government resigned on 22 December 1976, after ministers of the National Religious Party were sacked because the party had abstained from voting on a
motion of no confidenceA motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...
, which had been brought by Agudat Yisrael over a breach of the
SabbathShabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
on an
Israeli Air ForceThe Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
base.
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