The twenty-seventh government of Israel was formed by

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon ...

on 18 June 1996. Although his

- Gesher-

Tzomet Tzomet ( he, צוֹמֶת, lit., ''Crossroads'') is a small, right-wing political party in Israel. History The party was founded by General Rafael Eitan in 1983, after his retirement from the position of chief-of-staff in 1982. He headed it throug ...

alliance won fewer seats that the Labor Party, Netanyahu formed the government after winning the country's first ever

direct election Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...

for Prime Minister, narrowly defeating incumbent

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 ...

. This government was the first formed by an Israeli national born in the state after independence in 1948 (the seventeenth government of 1974–1977 was the first to be formed by a native-born Israeli, although Rabin was born in the territory prior to independence). Together with Likud-Gesher-Tzomet, Netanyahu also included

Shas Shas ( he, ש״ס) is a Haredi religious political party in Israel. Founded in 1984 under the leadership of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Israeli Sephardi chief rabbi, who remained its spiritual leader until his death in October 2013, it primarily ...

, the

National Religious Party The National Religious Party ( he, מִפְלָגָה דָּתִית לְאֻומִּית, ''Miflaga Datit Leumit'', commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acronym Mafdal, ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist moveme ...

Yisrael BaAliyah Yisrael BaAliyah ( he, ישראל בעלייה, ; lit., ''Israel on the up'') was a political party in Israel between its formation in 1996 and its merger into Likud in 2003. It was formed to represent the interests of Russian immigrants by forme ...

United Torah Judaism United Torah Judaism ( he, יהדות התורה, ''Yahadut HaTora''), often referred to by its electoral symbol Gimel (), is a Haredi, religious conservative political alliance in Israel. The alliance, consisting of Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaT ...

and the

Third Way The Third Way is a centrist political position that attempts to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of centre-right economic policies with centre-left social policies. The Third Way was born from a ...

in the government, with the coalition holding 66 of the 120 seats in the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

.Factional and Government Make-Up of the Fourteenth Knesset
Knesset website The government was also supported, but not joined, by the two-seat

Moledet Moledet ( he, מולדת, ''Homeland'') was a minor right-wing political party in Israel. History Moledet was established by Rehavam Ze'evi in 1988. It won two seats in the Knesset elections later that year, taken by Ze'evi and Yair Sprinzak ...

faction. Gesher left the coalition on 6 January 1998, but the government remained in place until 6 July 1999, when

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Jan ...

formed the twenty-eighth government after defeating Netanyahu in the 1999 election for Prime Minister.

Cabinet members

¹ Died in office. ² Although Arens was not a Knesset member at the time, he had previously been an MK for Likud. ³ Although Suissa was not a Knesset member at the time, he was elected to the Knesset on the Shas list in 1999. ⁴ The name of the post was changed to Minister of National Infrastructure on 8 July 1996.

References

External links

Twelfth Knesset: Government 27
Knesset website {{DEFAULTSORT:Twenty-Seventh Government Of Israel 27 1996 establishments in Israel 1999 disestablishments in Israel Cabinets established in 1996 Cabinets disestablished in 1999 1996 in Israeli politics 1997 in Israeli politics 1998 in Israeli politics 1999 in Israeli politics 27 +27