The Israeli general election of 1992

Abstract

The 23 June elections for Israel’s thirteenth Knesset ended in what Israelis called a ‘mahapach’-an upheaval. The Labour Party recaptured its pivotal position in the Knesset. For the first time since the December 1973 Knesset elections, Labour and the more ‘dovish’ parties gained a majority in the Knesset-together controlling 61 out of the 120 seats. The Likud, which led the government prior to the elections, the more hawkish parties and the religious parties won only 59 seats. Of those eligible to vote 2,637,943 out of 3,409,015 participated in the elections. It was the first time since the establishment of the state of Israel that the number of eligible voters exceeded three million. Ten per cent of the electorate consisted of young voters who reached voting age (18) only after the elections to the twelfth Knesset. Nine per cent of the eligible voters were new immigrants most of whom came to Israel from the USSR (and its successors) after the November 1988 elections. Turnout reached 77.4 per cent compared with 79.7 per cent in the 1988 elections, 2,616,841 valid votes were distributed among 25 ‘lists-of-candidates’, 0.8 per cent of the votes were invalid (1.0 per cent in 1988). Israel continued to employ an extreme PR electoral system, using a single nationwide constituency and implementing the Hagenbach-Bischoff formula in order to determine the exact number of seats to be allocated to each of the competing ‘strict-lists’. The threshold was raised from 1.0 per cent, used in all previous elections, to 1.5 per cent of the valid votes. This pushed several small parties to unite before the elections, 5.0 per cent of the valid votes, however, were given to parties that did not pass the threshold (2.4 per cent in 1988). The Labour Party adopted a series of reforms prior to the elections. Thus, more than 100,000 party members took part in its primaries in which the candidate for premiership and its Knesset candidates were elected. Labour signed a surplus agreement with the more dovish Meretz. Meretz is a combination of the CRM, Mapam and Shinui, all of which had participated separately in 1988. To the ‘left’ of Meretz are the three Arab-supported parties, the communist-led Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash), the Progressive List and the Arab Democratic List (ADL) which ran separately as they did in 1988. The Likud reached the peak of its popularity towards the end of 1991 with Israel’s participation in the Madrid peace conference. Later, however, its popularity decreased considerably. In the process of selecting its candidates for premiership *The study was made possible (in parts) by the Charles H. Revson Foundation. It was carried out within the framework of the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. The statements made and the views expressed are solely the responsibility of the author.