List of political parties in Israel
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Israel's political system, based on proportional representation, allows for a multi-party system with numerous parties represented in the 120-seat Knesset.
A typical Knesset includes a large number of factions represented. This is because of the low election threshold required for a seat–1 percent of the vote from 1949 to 1992, 1.5 percent from 1992 to 2003, 2 percent from 2003 to 2014, and 3.25 percent since 2015. In the 2015 elections, for instance, 10 parties or alliances cleared the threshold, and five of them won at least 10 seats. The low threshold, in combination with the nationwide party-list system, makes it all but impossible for a single party to win the 61 seats needed for a majority government. No party has ever won a majority of seats in an election, the most being 56, won by the Alignment grouping in the 1969 elections (the Alignment had briefly held a majority of seats before the elections following its formation in January 1969).
As a result, while only three parties (or their antecedents) have ever led governments, all Israeli governments as of 2015[update] have been coalitions comprising two or more parties.
Current parties
Parties represented in the Knesset
The following parties are represented following the 2015 elections:
Parties that have splintered from established parties
The following parties have broken away from established parties in the Knesset. Therefore, in the lead-up to the 2019 general election, they have current representation in the Knesset.
| Party name | Party they broke away from | Leader | Number of seats
for new party |
Number of seats remaining
for the established party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Right | Jewish Home | Naftali Bennet | 3 | 5 |
| Gesher | Yisrael Beiteinu | Orly Levi | 1 | 5 |
Other parties
The following parties do not have Knesset seats at present:
- Ahrayut
- Ale Yarok
- Am Shalem
- Brit Olam
- Da'am Workers Party, Organization for Democratic Action
- Dor
- Eretz Hadasha
- HaYisraelim
- Kadima (held seats from 2005 to 2015)
- Koah HaKesef
- Koah LeHashpi'a
- Lazuz
- Leader
- Lehem
- Lev LaOlim
- Man's Rights in the Family Party
- Magen Yisrael (Shield of Israel)
- Meimad (held seats between 1999 and 2009 as part of One Israel alliance)
- New Horizon
- Or
- Otzma Yehudit (held seats between 2012 and 2013 after breaking away from the National Union, then under the name Otzma LeYisrael; ran unsuccessfully as a part of Yachad list in 2015 elections)
- Piratim-The Pirate Party of Israel
- Sons of the New Testament
- The Greens
- Telem[53]
- Tzomet (held seats between 1987 and 1999; in 1996 elections formed a joint "National Camp List" with the Likud and Gesher)
- U'Bizchutan— founded in 2015 as an Orthodox Jewish women's party [54]
- Yachad
- Yisrael Hazaka
- Yisrael HaMithadeshet
- Zehut
Former parties
Parties formerly represented in the Knesset
Parties that failed to win seats in the Knesset
- Hatzohar—the original Revisionist Zionist party, disbanded after failing to cross the electoral threshold in the 1949 elections.
- Popular Arab Bloc—Arab satellite list that ran in the 1949 elections.
- Tafnit—ran in the 2006 elections.
- Women's Party—ran in the 1977 elections.
- Yamin Yisrael—broke away from Moledet, another right-wing party, prior to 1996 elections, but failed to cross the electoral threshold.
Name changes
The following parties changed their names
- Banai became Tehiya-Bnai then Tehiya
- Emunim became Tkuma
- Equality in Israel-Panthers became the Unity Party
- Flatto-Sharon became Development and Peace
- Hitkhabrut became the Renewed Religious National Zionist Party, then Ahi
- Israel in the Centre became the Centre Party
- Meretz became Yachad then Meretz-Yachad, then Meretz again
- Movement for Change and Initiative became Shinui
- Mizrachi-Hapoel HaMizrachi became the National Religious Front, then Mafdal (National Religious Party), then The Jewish Home
- National Responsibility became Kadima
- National Unity - National Progressive Alliance became Progressive National Alliance
- Parliamentary Group of Bronfman and Tsinker became Makhar, then the Democratic Choice
- Party for the Advancement of the Zionist Idea became the New Liberal Party
- Rafi – National List became Ometz
- Rakah became Maki
- Secular Faction became Hetz
- Social-Democratic Faction became the Independent Socialist Faction
- Shinui - Centre Party became Shinui - the Secular Movement, then Shinui - Party for the Secular and the Middle Class, but is generally known as Shinui
Zionist youth movements
- Betar (associated with Herut and then Likud)
- Bnei Akiva (Sons of Akiva, associated with Mafdal (National Religious Party))
- Habonim Dror (The Builders - Freedom, socialist Zionist youth movement associated with the Israeli Labor Party)
- Hashomer Hatzair (The Young Guard, socialist Zionist youth movement associated with Mapam and unofficially with Meretz)
- Magshimey Herut (associated with Herut)
- HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed (The Learning and Working Youth, socialist Zionist youth movement, sister movement to Habonim Dror, associated with the Israeli Labor Party and the Histadrut)
- Noar Avoda (Labour Youth, associated with Labour)
- Noar Moledet (Moledet Youth, associated with Moledet)
- Tzeiri Meretz (Young Meretz for 18- to-35-year-olds) and Noar Meretz (Meretz Youth for under 18s, associated with Meretz)
- Noar Meir and the Hilltop Youth (associated with Kach and its various successor parties)
See also
- Politics of Israel
- List of political parties by country
- Liberalism in Israel
- Labour Zionism
- Revisionist Zionism
References
- ^ Daniel Tauber (13 August 2010). "Ze'ev Jabotinsky (1880–1940)". Likud Anglos. Archived from the original on 22 February 2011.
Jabotinsky's movement and teachings, which can be characterized as national-liberalism, form the foundation of the Likud party.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ McGann, James G.; Johnson, Erik C. (2005). Comparative Think Tanks, Politics and Public Policy. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 241. ISBN 9781781958995.
The Likud Party, the party of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, is a national-liberal party, while the Labor Party, led by Shimon Peres, is more left-wing and identified as social-democratic.
- ^ "Israel - Political Parties". GlobalSecurity.org. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
The two main political parties—Likud, essentially national-liberal and Labor, essentially social-democratic—have historical roots and traditions pre-dating the establishment of the State in 1948.
- ^ "Meet the parties - Likud". Haaretz. 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
A national-liberal political movement (center-right, in Israeli terms) that was established as an alliance of parties that united into a single party in 1984.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ Langford, Barry (2017). All Together Now. Biteback Publishing.
Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing populist party Likud, ran for re-election
- ^ Being Israeli: The Dynamics of Multiple Citizenship. Cambridge University Press. 2002. p. 30.
The resentment of these two social sectors, coupled with the new elite's incompetence, enabled the right-wing, populist Likud to take over in 1977.
- ^ "How Tali and her friendly assassin united Israel". Sydney Morning Herald. 11 September 2004.
She was brought up by a hard-working Moroccan Jewish mother in the poor southern town of Kiryat Gat, a heartland of the right-wing populist Likud party.
- ^ Joel Greenberg (22 November 1998). "The World: Pursuing Peace; Netanyahu and His Party Turn Away from 'Greater Israel'". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
Likud, despite defections, had joined Labor in accepting the inevitability of territorial compromise.... Revolutionary as it may seem, Likud's abandonment of its maximalist vision has in fact been evolving for years.
- ^ Ethan Bronner (20 February 2009). "Netanyahu, Once Hawkish, Now Touts Pragmatism". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
Likud as a party has made a major transformation in the last 15 years from being rigidly committed to retaining all the land of Israel to looking pragmatically at how to retain for Israel defensible borders in a very uncertain Middle East....
- ^ Amnon Rapoport (1990). Experimental Studies of Interactive Decisions. Kluwer Academic. p. 413. ISBN 0792306856.
Likud is a liberal-conservative party that gains much of its support from the lower and middle classes, and promotes free enterprise, nationalism, and expansionism.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Guide to Israel's political parties". BBC News. 21 January 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Ishaan Tharoor (14 March 2015). "A guide to the political parties battling for Israel's future". The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
- ^ Elshout, Jan (2011). "It's a Myth That Israelis Support a Two-State Solution". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (March 2011): 24 f.
- ^ Karin Laub (22 January 2013). "Israel vote presents diplomatic, domestic choices". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Ben Birnbaum (23 August 2013). "Tzipi Livni and the quest for peace in Israel and Palestine". Newsweek. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ Christoph Schult (22 March 2013). "Pensions for Jewish Ghetto Laborers: Israel Angered By German Government". Spiegel Online. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ Katherine Philip (16 January 2014). "Outcry as Israel tries to ban the word 'Nazi'". The Times.(subscription required)
- ^ http://www.iemed.org/observatori/recursos/documents/cronologies/arxius-cronologies-anuari-2014/chronology_israel_and%20_palestine_IEMed_yearbook_2014_EN.pdf
- ^ Jim Zanotti (28 February 2014). "Israel: Background and U.S. Relations" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ Judy Maltz (17 December 2014). "Where do Israeli lawmakers stand on matters of religion and state?". Haaretz.
Both Meretz and Hatnuah are known for their progressive platforms on matters of religion and state.
- ^ "Hatnua presents green platform". Ynetnews. 26 December 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ Justin Scott Finkelstein (August 2013). "Can the Israeli Center Hold?" (PDF). Foreign Policy Research Institute.
- ^ Carlo Strenger, Israel today: a society without a center, Haaretz (7 March 2014)
- ^ Dror Zeigerman (2013). A Liberal Upheaval: From the General Zionists to the Liberal Party (pre-book dissertation) (PDF). Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Sharon Weinblum (2015). Security and Defensive Democracy in Israel: A Critical Approach to Political Discourse. Routledge. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-317-58450-6.
- ^ Carol Migdalovitz (18 May 2006). "Israel: Background and Relations with the United States]" (PDF). CRS Issue Brief for Congress. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ^ Peleg, Ilan; Waxman, Dov (2011). Israel's Palestinians: The Conflict Within. Cambridge University Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0521157025.
- ^ Jamal, Amal (2011). Arab Minority Nationalism in Israel. Routledge. p. 143. ISBN 978-0415567398.
- ^ Kimmerling, Baruch; Migdal, Joel S. (2003). The Palestinian People: A History. Harvard University Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-0674011298.
- ^ Guide to Israel's political parties, BBC, 21 January 2013
- ^ Carol Migdalovitz (18 May 2015). "Israel: Background and Relations with the United States" (PDF). CRS Issue Brief for Congress. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ^ Rubin, Barry (2012). Israel: An Introduction. Yale University Press. p. 219. ISBN 978-0300162301.
- ^ Freedman, Robert O., ed. (2008). Contemporary Israel: Domestic Politics, Foreign Policy, and Security Challenges. Westview Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0813343853.
- ^ Birkenstock, Günther (24 January 2013). "Yair Lapid, the big winner in Israel's elections". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
- ^ Jodi Rudoren (29 January 2013). "Israeli Secularists Appear to Find Their Voice". The New York Times. p. A4. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ^ Evans, Judith (23 January 2013). "Israeli election: Live Report". Yahoo! News Singapore. AFP. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
- ^ Editorial (17 March 2013). "A capitalist government". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
- ^ Carlo Strenger (7 March 2014). "Israel today: a society without a center". Haaretz. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
- ^ "Two Israeli parties join forces against Netanyahu". Associated Press. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
- ^ Israel election: Who are the key candidates?, BBC (14 March 2015)
- ^ Bernard Avishai, Kerry's Miscalculation on the U.N. Palestine Resolutions, The New Yorker, 31 December 2014
- ^ Jacob Wirtschafter, Israel’s election: It’s the economy, stupid, Jewish Journal, 16 March 2015
- ^ Laura Riestra (17 March 2015). "Las claves de las elecciones en Israel". ABC Internacional.
- ^ Ari Shavit (1 January 2015). "Longing for Likud". Haaretz. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
- ^ "Key parties in incoming Israeli parliament". Associated Press. 24 January 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
- ^ Dani Filc (2010). The Political Right in Israel: Different Faces of Jewish Populism. Routledge Studies on the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Routledge. p. 79. ISBN 978-0415488303.
- ^ "Bringing the Zionist Dream to Life". yisraelbeytenu.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2006. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Yisrael Beiteinu supports the advancement of free-market economic policies". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
- ^ Khanin, Vladimir (Ze'ev) (2008). "Israel's "Russian" Parties". In Robert O. Freedman (ed.). Contemporary Israel: Domestic Politics, Foreign Policy and Security Challenges. Westview Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-0813343853.
- ^ Arieff, Irwin (2011). "Middle East Peace Prospects: Is There Any Hope for Long-Term Peace". Issues in Peace and Conflict Studies: Selections From CQ Researcher. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. p. 217. doi:10.4135/9781483349244.n8. ISBN 9781412992916.
- ^ Jim Zanotti (1 June 2015). "Israel: Background and U.S. Relations" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. p. 58. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
- ^ Melanie J. Wright (2013). Studying Judaism: The Critical Issues. A&C Black. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-4725-3888-8. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- ^ "Former defense chief Ya'alon launches new political party, Telem | The Times of Israel". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- ^ Miriam Krule (21 January 2015). "Ultra-Orthodox Women in Israel Launch Their Own Political Party". Slate. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
External links
- Parties participating in the 2006 elections Knesset website Template:En icon
- All parliamentary groups Knesset website Template:En icon
