1959 Israeli legislative election

Elections for the 4th Knesset

3 November 1959
All 120 seats in the Knesset 61 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	81.6% ( 1.2 pp)
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– Mapai David Ben-Gurion 38.2 47 +7 Herut Menachem Begin 13.5 17 +2 Mafdal Haim-Moshe Shapira 9.9 12 +1 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 New Cooperation and Brotherhood Labib Abu Rokan 1.1 2 New Agriculture and Development Mahmud Al-Nashaf 1.1 1 0 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Prime Minister before Prime Minister after David Ben-Gurion Mapai David Ben-Gurion Mapai

Legislative elections were held in Israel on 3 November 1959 to elect the 120 members of the fourth Knesset. Mapai remained the dominant party, gaining seven seats. Following the elections, Mapai leader David Ben-Gurion formed 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.

Voter turnout was 81.6%.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Mapai	370,585	38.23	47	+7
	Herut	130,515	13.46	17	+2
	National Religious Party	95,581	9.86	12	+1
	Mapam	69,468	7.17	9	0
	General Zionists	59,700	6.16	8	−5
	Ahdut HaAvoda	58,043	5.99	7	−3
	Religious Torah Front	45,569	4.70	6	0
	Progressive Party	44,889	4.63	6	+1
	Maki	27,374	2.82	3	−3
	Progress and Development	12,347	1.27	2	New
	Cooperation and Brotherhood	11,104	1.15	2	New
	Agriculture and Development	10,902	1.12	1	0
	Union of North African Immigrants	8,199	0.85	0	New
	Progress and Work	4,651	0.48	0	−2
	Independent Faction for Israeli Arabs	3,818	0.39	0	New
	Israeli Arab Labour Party	3,369	0.35	0	New
	Sephardi National Party	3,133	0.32	0	New
	National Union	2,456	0.25	0	0
	Holocaust Handicapped and Injured Faction	1,765	0.18	0	New
	Yemenite Faction	1,711	0.18	0	0
	Independents	1,611	0.17	0	New
	Socialist Union (Bund)	1,322	0.14	0	New
	New Immigrants Front	631	0.07	0	0
	Third Power	594	0.06	0	New
Total		969,337	100.00	120	0
Valid votes		969,337	97.49
Invalid/blank votes		24,967	2.51
Total votes		994,304	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,218,483	81.60
Source: IDI, Nohlen et al.

Aftermath

The government collapsed when Ben-Gurion resigned on 31 January 1961, over a motion of no-confidence brought by Herut and the General Zionists in the wake of the Lavon Affair. When Ben-Gurion was unable to form a new government new elections were called. Serving one year and nine months, the fourth Knesset was the shortest Knesset term until the five-month twenty-first Knesset in 2019.

See also

• List of members of the fourth Knesset

External links

• Historical overview of the Fourth Knesset Knesset website
• Elections to the Fourth Knesset Knesset website
• Factional and Government Make-Up of the Fourth Knesset Knesset website