The twenty-third government of Israel was formed by

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 ...

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 22 December 1988, following the November 1988 elections. The government remained a national unity coalition between Likud and the

Alignment Alignment may refer to: Archaeology * Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks * Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones Biology * Structu ...

, with 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 ...

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 ...

Agudat Yisrael Agudat Yisrael ( he, אֲגוּדָּת יִשְׂרָאֵל, lit., ''Union of Israel'', also transliterated ''Agudath Israel'', or, in Yiddish, ''Agudas Yisroel'') is a Haredi Jewish political party in Israel. It began as a political party re ...

and

Degel HaTorah Degel HaTorah ( he, דגל התורה, , Banner of the Torah) is an Ashkenazi Haredi political party in Israel. For much of its existence, it has been allied with Agudat Yisrael, under the name United Torah Judaism. History Degel HaTorah was ...

also being members of the coalition. It was the first government to have a

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of an ...

. In 1990, after Shamir refused to accept a peace initiative developed by

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

James Baker James Addison Baker III (born April 28, 1930) is an American attorney, diplomat and statesman. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 10th White House Chief of Staff and 67th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President ...

, the Alignment filed a motion of no-confidence in the government. Shamir fired all the Alignment ministers,Israeli Coalition Dissolves In Fight Over Peace Plan
New York Times, 14 March 1990 but the vote was passed by 60-55, meaning that President

Chaim Herzog Major-General Chaim Herzog ( he, חיים הרצוג; 17 September 1918 – 17 April 1997) was an Irish-born Israeli politician, general, lawyer and author who served as the sixth President of Israel between 1983 and 1993. Born in Belfast and ...

had to ask one of the party leaders to form a new government. It was the first, and to date, only time which a government was brought down by a no confidence motion. Herzog initially asked Alignment leader

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 ...

to form a new government, but after Peres was unable to, turned to Shamir, who successfully formed the twenty-fourth government on 11 June. The incident 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 ...

Cabinet members

¹ Although Deri was not a Knesset member at the time, he was a member of

References

External links

Tenth Knesset: Government 23
Knesset website {{Israeli governments 23 1988 establishments in Israel 1990 disestablishments in Israel Cabinets established in 1988 Cabinets disestablished in 1990 1988 in Israeli politics 1989 in Israeli politics 1990 in Israeli politics 23 23