Elections for the 12th Knesset were held in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

on 1 November 1988. Voter turnout was 79.7%.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...

, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I'', p127

Parliament factions

The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 11th Knesset.

Results

Aftermath

Likud's

Yitzhak Shamir Yitzhak Shamir ( he, יצחק שמיר, ; born Yitzhak Yezernitsky; October 22, 1915 – June 30, 2012) was an Israeli politician and the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms, 1983–1984 and 1986–1992. Before the establishment ...

formed the twenty-third government on 22 December 1988, including the Alignment, the National Religious Party, Shas, Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah in his coalition, with 25 ministers. In 1990

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...

tried to form an Alignment-led coalition in a move that became known as "

the dirty trick The dirty trick ( he, התרגיל המסריח, ''HaTargil HaMasriaḥ'', lit. the stinking trick) refers to a political scandal that erupted in Israel in 1990. It referred to an attempt by Shimon Peres to form a government made up of the left-win ...

", but failed to win sufficient support. Eventually Shamir formed the twenty-fourth government on 11 June 1990, with a coalition encompassing Likud, the National Religious Party, Shas, Agudat Yisrael, Degel HaTorah, the New Liberal Party, Tehiya, Tzomet, Moledet, Unity for Peace and Immigration and Geulat Yisrael. Tehiya, Tzomet and Moledet all left the coalition in late 1991/early 1992 in protest at Shamir's participation in the

Madrid Conference The Madrid Conference of 1991 was a peace conference, held from 30 October to 1 November 1991 in Madrid, hosted by Spain and co-sponsored by the United States and the Soviet Union. It was an attempt by the international community to revive the ...

. Several defections occurred during the Knesset term; five members of Likud left to form the Party for the Advancement of the Zionist Idea. After two of them returned, the party was renamed the New Liberal Party. Yitzhak Peretz left Shas and established Moria.

Eliezer Mizrahi Eliezer Mizrahi ( he, אליעזר מזרחי, born 19 April 1945) is an Israeli former politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1988 and 1992, and as Deputy Minister of Health from 1990 until 1992. Biography Born in Rehovot durin ...

left Agudat Yisrael and established

Geulat Yisrael Geulat Israel () was a short-lived Haredi political party in Israel in the early 1990s. Background The party was established on 25 December 1990 when Eliezer Mizrahi broke away from Agudat Yisrael.Efraim Gur Efraim Gur ( he, אפרים גור, born 1 September 1955) is an Israeli former politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1988 and 1996, and as Deputy Minister of Communications and Deputy Minister of Transportation in the early 19 ...

left the Alignment to establish

Unity for Peace and Immigration Unity for Peace and Immigration ( he, אחדות למען השלום והעלייה, ''Ahdut LeMa'an HaShalom VeHaAliya'') was a short-lived one man political faction in Israel in the early 1990s. Background The faction was formed on 25 December 1 ...

, which later merged into Likud. The Twelfth Knesset saw the rise of the ultra-orthodox religious parties as a significant force in Israeli politics, and as a crucial "swing" element which could determine which of the large two secular parties (Likud, Alignment) would get to form the coalition government. Ratz, Mapam, and Shinui merged into Meretz, while Black Panthers broke away from Hadash.

Notes

References

External links

Historical overview of the Twelfth Knesset
Knesset website

Knesset website {{Israeli elections Israeli legislative

Legislative election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

Legislative elections in Israel November 1988 events in Asia