First Knesset
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Constituent Assembly elections were held in newly independent
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
on 25 January 1949. Voter turnout was 86.9%. Two days after its first meeting on 14 February 1949, legislators voted to change the name of the body to the
Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...
(Hebrew: כנסת, translated as ''Assembly''). It is known today as the First Knesset.


Background

During the establishment of the state of Israel in May 1948, Israel's national institutions were established, which ruled the new state. These bodies were not elected bodies in the pure sense, and their members originated from the management of the
Jewish agency The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...
and from the management of the
Jewish National Council The Jewish National Council (JNC; , ''Va'ad Le'umi''), also known as the Jewish People's Council and the General Council of the Jewish Community of Palestine was the main national executive organ of the Assembly of Representatives of the Jewis ...
. The
Israeli Declaration of Independence The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 (5 Iyar 5708), at the end of the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war phase and ...
stated that: However, the elections were not held before the designated date due to the ongoing war and were cancelled twice, while no constitution was ever adopted. The elections were eventually held on 25 January 1949.


Preparations for the elections

These were the first elections held in Israel, and as such they demanded special preparations. On 5 November 1948 the
Provisional State Council The Provisional State Council (, ''Moetzet HaMedina HaZmanit'') was the temporary legislature of Israel from shortly before independence until the election of the first Knesset in January 1949. It took the place of His Majesty's Privy Council, ...
decided that the Constituent Assembly would consist of 120 members. On 8 November 1948 a population census was held which was later used in part for the preparations of the voters guide (the census was essential due to the rise of new immigrants and because of the Arab inhabitants of the British Mandate who became refugees after the war). For the purpose of the census the entire country was under curfew for seven hours, from five in the afternoon until midnight. Another issue was the issue of the Electoral System. Suggestions were made of different Electoral Systems, but eventually it was decided to maintain the relative electoral system which existed in the elections for the Assembly of Representatives of the
Jewish community Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
in British controlled Palestine, and that the Constituent Assembly elected would be the one to determine the future electoral system in Israel. A thousand polling stations were prepared across the country. According to census, the number of eligible voters consisted of half a million people.


Contesting parties

A total of 21 parties registered to contest the elections.


Results


Aftermath

On 19 May 1948, the Provisional Assembly confirmed
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
and
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
as the official
languages of Israel The Israeli population is linguistically and culturally diverse. Hebrew is the country's official language, and almost the entire population speaks it either as a first language or proficiently as a second language. Its standard form, known as M ...
, removing English as an official language. The Constituent Assembly convened in February 1949. During the Knesset term Eliezer Preminger left Maki and re-established the
Hebrew Communists The Hebrew Communists (, ''Komunistim Ivrim'') were a short-lived political party in Mandatory Palestine and Israel. History In 1940 a group of friends led by left the Palestine Communist Party to form a new party named "Emet" (''Truth''), whos ...
before joining Mapam, while
Ari Jabotinsky Eri Jabotinsky (, also transliterated ''Ari'', 26 December 1910 – 6 June 1969) was a Revisionist Zionist activist, Israeli politician and academic mathematician. He was the son of Ze'ev Jabotinsky, the founder of the opposition movement within ...
and
Hillel Kook Hillel Kook (; 24 July 1915 –18 August 2001), also known as Peter Bergson (Hebrew: פיטר ברגסון), was a Revisionist Zionism, Revisionist Zionist activist and politician. Kook led the Irgun's efforts in the United States during W ...
, both associated with the
Bergson Group The Bergson Group was group of Jewish activitists whose actions included trying to convince the Roosevelt administration to save Jews from the Nazi genocide in Europe. The group was active in the United States between 1940 and 1948. History Fou ...
in the United States, broke away from Herut; they were not recognised as a separate party by the speaker.


First government

The first government was formed on 8 March 1949 with
David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...
as Prime Minister. His Mapai party formed a coalition with the United Religious Front, the Progressive Party, the Sephardim and Oriental Communities and the Democratic List of Nazareth, and there were 12 ministers.
Yosef Sprinzak Yosef Sprinzak (; ) was a leading Zionist activist in the first half of the 20th century, an Israeli politician, and the first Speaker of the Knesset, a role he held from 1949 until his death in 1959. Biography Yosef Sprinzak was born in Moscow, ...
of Mapai was appointed as the speaker. On 16 February 1949, the First Knesset elected
Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( ; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born Israeli statesman, biochemist, and Zionist leader who served as president of the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization and later as the first pre ...
as the first (largely ceremonial)
President of Israel The president of the State of Israel (, or ) is the head of state of Israel. The president is mostly, though not entirely, ceremonial; actual executive power is vested in the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet led by the Prime Minister of Israel, pr ...
. It also passed an educational law in 1949 which introduced compulsory schooling for all children between the ages of 5 and 14.''The Challenge Of Israel'' by Misha Louvish. Publisher: Jerusalem Israel Univ Press; 1st Edition (1968). ASIN B000OKO5U2. On 5 July 1950, it passed the
Law of Return The Law of Return (, ''ḥok ha-shvūt'') is an Israeli law, passed on 5 July 1950, which gives Jews, people with one or more Jewish grandparent, and their spouses the right to Aliyah, relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli nationality law, Isra ...
. The trend of political instability in Israel was started when Ben-Gurion resigned on 15 October 1950 over disagreements with the United Religious Front on education in the new immigrant camps and the religious education system, as well as demands that the Supply and Rationing Ministry be closed and a businessman appointed as Minister for Trade and Industry.


Second government

Ben-Gurion formed a second government on 1 November 1950 with the same coalition partners as previously, though there was a slight reshuffle in his cabinet;
David Remez David Remez (; 23 May 1886 – 19 May 1951) was an Israeli politician, the country's first Minister of Transportation, and a signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence. Biography Remez was born David Drabkin in the village of Kopy ...
moved from the Transportation ministry to Education, replacing
Zalman Shazar Zalman Shazar (; November 24, 1885 – October 5, 1974) was an Israeli politician, author and poet. Shazar served as the president of Israel for two terms, from 1963 to 1973. Biography Shazar was born Shneur Zalman Rubashov to a Hasidic family o ...
(who was left out of the new cabinet), whilst
Dov Yosef Dov Joseph (; 27 May 1899 – 7 January 1980) was an Israeli statesman. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, he was in charge of Jerusalem. He later held ministerial positions in nine Israeli governments. Biography Bernard Joseph (later Dov J ...
replaced Remez as Minister of Transportation.
Ya'akov Geri Ya'akov Geri (; 18 September 1901 – 18 December 1974), also known as Jack Gering, was an Israeli lawyer who served as Minister of Trade and Industry between November 1950 and October 1951, although he never was a Knesset member. Born in Sed ...
was appointed Minister of Trade and Industry despite not being a Member of the Knesset. There was also a new Deputy Minister in the Transportation ministry. The door was opened for the elections for the second knesset when the government resigned on 14 February 1951 after the Knesset had rejected the Minister of Education and Culture's proposals on the registration of schoolchildren.


See also

*
List of members of the first Knesset The 120 members of the first Knesset were 1949 Israeli legislative election, elected on 25 January 1949. The breakdown by party was as follows: *Mapai: 46 *Mapam: 19 (gained one member during the Knesset term) *United Religious Front: 16 *Herut: 14 ...


References


External links


Historical overview of the First Knesset
Knesset website

Knesset website {{Israeli elections
Legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...
Legislative election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
Legislative elections in Israel
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
1st Knesset (1949–1951) David Ben-Gurion Menachem Begin Constituent Assembly elections in Asia