Snap legislative elections 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 17 September 2019 to elect the 120 members of the 22nd
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 (wit ...
. Following the
previous elections in April, incumbent
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
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 ...
failed to form a governing coalition for a second consecutive time. On 30 May, the Knesset voted to dissolve itself and trigger new elections, in order to prevent
Blue and White party leader
Benny Gantz
Benjamin Gantz ( he, בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ, Transliterated: ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general serving as the minister of Defense since 2020 and deputy prime minister of Israel si ...
from being appointed Prime Minister-designate.
This election marked the first time the Knesset voted to dissolve itself before a
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...
had been formed.
Background
Following the April 2019 elections,
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 S ...
leader and incumbent
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
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 ...
had until the end of 29 May to form a
governing coalition, including a two-week extension granted by
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Reuven Rivlin
Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin ( he, רְאוּבֵן "רוּבִי" רִיבְלִין ; born 9 September 1939) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the tenth president of Israel between 2014 and 2021. He is a member of the Likud party. R ...
. Though the deadline passed without a coalition being formed and Rivlin would have been tasked with appointing a new Prime Minister-designate, presumed to be
Blue and White party head
Benny Gantz
Benjamin Gantz ( he, בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ, Transliterated: ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general serving as the minister of Defense since 2020 and deputy prime minister of Israel si ...
,
Netanyahu successfully pushed to dissolve the Knesset to avoid this.
Negotiations between Netanyahu and a number of potential coalition partners stalled. One sticking point between Netanyahu and
Yisrael Beitenu leader
Avigdor Lieberman
Avigdor Lieberman (, ; russian: Эве́т Льво́вич Ли́берман, Evet Lvovich Liberman, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician serving as Minister of Finance since 2021, having previously served twice as Deputy ...
was the passage of a draft law which is opposed by the
Haredi
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
parties in the coalition. The law would remove the current exemption of yeshiva students from
conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to Ancient history, antiquity and it continues in some countries to th ...
.
Netanyahu needed both Yisrael Beitenu and the Haredi parties in his
coalition
A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces.
Formation
According to ''A Gui ...
in order to have enough seats to form a majority.
As an alternative, Netanyahu approached Labor about the possibility of their support, but they rejected the offer. Meanwhile, Netanyahu's
legal troubles overshadowed further possible coalition negotiations, with Blue and White refusing to work with him in the circumstances. The new elections also mean Netanyahu's proposed immunity law cannot proceed for the time being.
On 28 May, 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 (wit ...
passed on first
reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...
a bill which would dissolve the Knesset and force a
snap election
A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled.
Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...
. This move was intended to place additional pressure on coalition partners to reach an agreement in time, as well as to prevent Gantz from being given the opportunity to put together a coalition should the deadline pass.
Later that day, the
committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
approved the bill for second and third reading.
Late in the evening on 29 May, it was announced that talks had failed. That night, and into the morning of 30 May, the Knesset passed second and third readings of the bill to dissolve itself and force a snap election with a vote of 74 in favour to 45 against. The 45 votes against the resolution came from the entire membership of three parties: the
Blue and White alliance (35 votes),
Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the la ...
(6 votes), and
Meretz
Meretz ( he, מֶרֶצ, ) is a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed in 1992 by the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was at its peak between 1992 and 1996 when it had 12 seats. It currently has no seats in the Kness ...
(4 votes). All other Knesset members voted for the resolution, with the exception of
Roy Folkman
Roy Folkman ( he, רוֹעִי פוֹלְקְמָן, born 5 August 1975) is an Israeli politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Kulanu between 2015 and 2019.
Biography
During his IDF national service Folkman served as a combat medi ...
, who was absent.
[
The election was held on 17 September 2019.]
Electoral system
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 (wit ...
are elected by closed list
Closed list describes the variant of party-list systems where voters can effectively only vote for political parties as a whole; thus they have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters had some in ...
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
in a single nationwide constituency. The electoral threshold
The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...
for the election is 3.25%. In most cases, this implies a minimum party size of four seats, but it is mathematically possible for a party to pass the electoral threshold and have only three seats (since 3.25% of 120 members = 3.9 members).
Surplus-vote agreements
Two parties can sign an agreement that allows them to compete for leftover seats as though they are running together on the same list. The Bader–Ofer method disproportionately favors larger lists, meaning that such an alliance is more likely to receive leftover seats than both of its comprising lists would be individually. If the alliance receives leftover seats, the Bader–Ofer calculation is then applied privately, to determine how the seats are divided among the two allied lists. The following agreements were signed by parties prior to the election:
* Yamina and 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 S ...
* Democratic Union and Labor-Gesher
Labor-Gesher was a joint list of the Israeli Labor Party and Gesher (2019 political party), Gesher parties for September 2019 Israeli legislative election, elections for the twenty-second Knesset. The list advocated social democracy and progressi ...
* United Torah Judaism and 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 ...
* Blue and White and Yisrael Beiteinu
Yisrael Beiteinu ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵל בֵּיתֵנוּ, russian: Наш Дом Израиль, lit. ''Israel Our Home'') is a secularist, nationalist right-wing political party in Israel. The party's base was originally secular Russia ...
Parties
Parliamentary factions
The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 21st Knesset.
Contesting parties
The 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 S ...
(election symbol: ) was tied with Blue and White for the largest political party in the 21st Knesset, with 35 of the 120 seats. It is the party of Israel's current prime minister, 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 ...
, who is seeking to gain more power to build a government after failing to do so following the April election. Prior to the September election, the Likud and Kulanu parties announced on 29 May their intention to run together in the new election. Kulanu officially dissolved itself and its remaining members joined the Likud on 31 July, bringing Likud's Knesset representation up to 38 seats.
The Blue and White (election symbol: ) alliance was created ahead of the April 2019 election and ended up being tied with 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 S ...
for the largest political party in the 21st Knesset, with 35 seats. Despite suggestions that the alliance should make changes due to their failure to achieve a majority in the April election, the alliance confirmed on 2June 2019 that it will keep the same rotating premiership of Benny Gantz
Benjamin Gantz ( he, בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ, Transliterated: ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general serving as the minister of Defense since 2020 and deputy prime minister of Israel si ...
and Yair Lapid
Yair Lapid ( he, יָאִיר לַפִּיד, transliterated: , ; born 5 November 1963) is an Israeli politician and former journalist who has been serving as the 14th prime minister of Israel since 1 July 2022. He previously served as the alt ...
as in the previous election. The party decided to run with the almost exact same list as they did in the April elections. Blue and White has ruled out sitting with Benjamin Netanyahu, due to the corruption investigations against him; however, it has not ruled out creating a National unity government
A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nat ...
with Likud if it replaced Netanyahu.
The Joint List (election symbol: ) alliance (which was dissolved ahead of the April 2019 elections) was reformed ahead of the September 2019 elections. It is made up of four ideologically diverse Arab Israeli
The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...
parties, who together had 10 seats in the 21st Knesset. The Ra'am, Hadash
Hadash ( he, חד״ש, lit=New), an acronym for ''HaHazit HaDemokratit LeShalom uLeShivion'' ( he, הַחֲזִית הַדֶּמוֹקְרָטִית לְשָׁלוֹם וּלְשִׁוְיוֹן, lit=The Democratic Front for Peace and Equalit ...
, and Ta'al factions announced on 27 July that the alliance would be re-established, Balad decided to join the next day. The list is led by Hadash Chairman Ayman Odeh
Ayman Odeh ( ar, أيمن عودة, he, אַיְּימָן עוֹדֶה; born 1 January 1975) is an Israeli Arab lawyer and politician. He is a member of Knesset and leader of the Hadash party.
Biography
Ayman Odeh was born in 1975, and raised ...
, who also led the alliance in the 2015 election. Odeh said he is open to cooperation with Blue and White, but he would not join their coalition.
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 ...
(election symbol: ) was the third largest political party in the 21st Knesset, with eight seats. Shas is led by Minister of Interior
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
Aryeh Deri
Aryeh Makhlouf Deri (, ), also Arie Deri, Arye Deri, or Arieh Deri (born 17 February 1959), is an Israeli politician. He is one of the founders of the Shas political party, and has served as Israel's Minister of the Interior, Minister of the ...
. Shas is a Mizrahi and Sephardi
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
Haredi
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
party, primarily concerned with rights and funding for those demographics. Shas declared early on that it was going to support Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister, and ruled out sitting with Blue and White, due to disagreements with Blue and White leader Yair Lapid.
United Torah Judaism (UTJ) (election symbol: ) was the fourth largest political alliance in the 21st Knesset, with eight seats. UTJ is an alliance of two Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
Haredi parties ( Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah), and is mainly concerned with preserving funding and rights for their sector of the population. UTJ is led by Deputy Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman. Much like its Mizrahi counterpart Shas, UTJ declared early on that it was going to support Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister, and ruled out sitting with Blue and White, due to disagreements with Blue and White leader Yair Lapid.
The Labor-Gesher
Labor-Gesher was a joint list of the Israeli Labor Party and Gesher (2019 political party), Gesher parties for September 2019 Israeli legislative election, elections for the twenty-second Knesset. The list advocated social democracy and progressi ...
(election symbol: ) alliance includes the Labor party, which was the sixth largest party in the 21st Knesset with six seats, and Gesher, a party led by Orly Levy-Abekasis
Orly Levy-Abekasis ( he, אוֹרְלִי לֵוִי־אַבֵּקָסִיס, born 11 November 1973) is an Israeli politician and former member of the Knesset. Formerly a model, Levy-Abekasis first entered the Knesset in 2009 as a representative ...
which did not pass the electoral threshold in the April election. Due to its collapse in the April election, Labor held its leadership primary on 2July, which was won by Amir Peretz. Following his victory, Peretz rejected merging into a greater leftist bloc and declared that he wanted to bring in new crowds to the party, and it was announced on 18 July 2019 that Labor and Gesher will run on a joint list, with seven seats on the list reserved for Labor and three for Gesher.
Yisrael Beiteinu
Yisrael Beiteinu ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵל בֵּיתֵנוּ, russian: Наш Дом Израиль, lit. ''Israel Our Home'') is a secularist, nationalist right-wing political party in Israel. The party's base was originally secular Russia ...
(election symbol: ) was the seventh largest party in the 21st Knesset, with five seats. The party has been led since its founding by Avigdor Lieberman
Avigdor Lieberman (, ; russian: Эве́т Льво́вич Ли́берман, Evet Lvovich Liberman, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician serving as Minister of Finance since 2021, having previously served twice as Deputy ...
, and it is running with the same list it presented in the April election. Lieberman sparked the repeat election by refusing to join Netanyahu's coalition, citing differences with the Haredi parties over drafting Haredi into the military. Due to his opposition to Netanyahu's Haredi coalition partners, Lieberman has declared that he will support only a unity government between Likud and Blue & White.
Yamina (election symbol: ) is an alliance of several Religious Zionist parties headed by Ayelet Shaked
Ayelet Shaked (; he, אַיֶּילֶת שָׁקֵד; born 7 May 1976) is an Israeli politician, activist, and software engineer currently serving as Minister of Interior. She served as a member of the Knesset for The Jewish Home from 2013 to ...
. It is made up of the Union of Right-Wing Parties
The Union of Right-wing Parties (, ''Ihud Miflagot HaYamin'') was a short-lived electoral alliance of right-wing to far-right religious Zionist parties which included The Jewish Home, Otzma Yehudit, and Tkuma. The list was created ahead of the ...
, which was the eighth largest party in the Knesset with five seats, and the New Right, which did not pass the electoral threshold. After long-winded negotiations between the two factions, URWP leader Rafi Peretz
Rafael "Rafi" Peretz (; born 7 January 1956) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician. A former military officer and helicopter pilot who also served as the Chief Military Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, he was the leader of the Jew ...
agreed on 28 July to give Ayelet Shaked
Ayelet Shaked (; he, אַיֶּילֶת שָׁקֵד; born 7 May 1976) is an Israeli politician, activist, and software engineer currently serving as Minister of Interior. She served as a member of the Knesset for The Jewish Home from 2013 to ...
the number one spot on the United Right list. The next day, an agreement between the Union of Right-Wing Parties and the New Right was announced. The two parties of the URWP, Tkuma and The Jewish Home
The Jewish Home ( he, הַבַּיִת הַיְהוּדִי, HaBayit HaYehudi) is an Orthodox Jewish and religious Zionist political party in Israel. It was originally formed by a merger of the National Religious Party, Moledet, and Tkuma in ...
, both voted on and approved the run with the New Right on 31 July. Part of the deal stipulated that the list would support Benjamin Netanyahu for the position of prime minister, despite resistance to this from the New Right.
The Democratic Union (election symbol: ) alliance includes several left-wing parties, who decided to run together in the September elections. The alliance was announced on 25 July 2019 and is led by Nitzan Horowitz. It will be made up of Meretz
Meretz ( he, מֶרֶצ, ) is a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed in 1992 by the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was at its peak between 1992 and 1996 when it had 12 seats. It currently has no seats in the Kness ...
, the ninth largest party in the 21st Knesset with four seats, the new Israel Democratic Party
The Israel Democratic Party () was a political party in Israel established in 2019 by former prime minister Ehud Barak. The party merged with Meretz for the September 2019 election. It did not contest the 2020 snap election.
Members
Yair Golan ...
formed by former prime minister 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 ...
, Israeli Labor Party
The Israeli Labor Party ( he, מִפְלֶגֶת הָעֲבוֹדָה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית, ), commonly known as HaAvoda ( he, הָעֲבוֹדָה, , The Labor), is a social democratic and Zionist political party in Israel. The p ...
defector Stav Shaffir
Stav Shaffir (; born 17 May 1985) is an Israeli politician. She is the leader of the Green Party and was a member of the Knesset for the Democratic Union alliance. She came to national prominence as one of the leaders of the 2011 Israeli social ...
, and the extra-parliamentary Green Movement
Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It ...
. The alliance declared that it would not sit with Netanyahu under any circumstances.
Otzma Yehudit (election symbol: ) was part of the Union of Right-Wing Parties in the April elections, but left after URWP members would not resign to allow Itamar Ben-Gvir to become a Knesset member; in addition, Otzma was unwilling to leave Baruch Marzel
Baruch Meir Marzel ( he, ברוך מאיר מרזל, born 23 April 1959) is an Israeli politician and activist. He is an Orthodox Jew originally from Boston who now lives in the Jewish community of Hebron in Tel Rumeida with his wife and nine c ...
and Ben-Zion Gopstein
Ben-Zion "Bentzi" Gophstein ( he, בן־ציון "בנצי" גופשטיין, born 10 September 1969) is a political activist affiliated with the far-right in Israel, a student of Meir Kahane, and founder and director of Lehava, an Israeli Jewish ...
off the electoral slate, as demanded by Rafi Peretz
Rafael "Rafi" Peretz (; born 7 January 1956) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician. A former military officer and helicopter pilot who also served as the Chief Military Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, he was the leader of the Jew ...
. Otzma is led by Ben-Gvir. The United Right (which later renamed itself Yamina) attempted to convince Otzma Yehudit to re-enter their alliance, but Otzma declined their offer, calling it "insulting". Otzma Yehudit initially signed a deal with Noam, but ran independently following a split between itself and Noam.[
]
Withdrawn parties
Zehut (election symbol: ) was the 13th largest party in the April election, receiving 2.74% of the vote and not passing the electoral threshold. Zehut is led by Moshe Feiglin. The party was initially interested in running in a joint list with the New Right, but was rejected when the New Right decided to run with the URWP instead. Following this, Zehut decided it would run alone. On 29 August 2019, Zehut leader Moshe Feiglin announced an agreement with Prime Minister Netanyahu had been reached and that Zehut would withdraw from the election in return for Feiglin serving as a minister in the next government, and the promise that Likud will implement some of Zehut's economic and cannabis reforms. Tamar Zandberg
Tamar Zandberg (, born 29 April 1976) is an Israeli politician who served as Minister of Environmental Protection from 2021 to 2022. Zandberg also served as a member of the Knesset for Meretz from 2013 to 2021, and as the party's leader between ...
of the Democratic Union said her party plans to appeal the deal to the Central Elections Committee, on the grounds that the deal might constitute election bribery under Israeli law. The deal was approved in a referendum by 77% of Zehut party members on 1September.
Noam (election symbol: ) is a new religious Zionist party which was announced on 12 July 2019, which will be backed by Rabbi Zvi Thau
Zvi Yisrael Thau ( he, צבי ישראל טאו, born 1938) is a Religious Zionist rabbi, a disciple of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, and co-founder and president of Yeshivat Har Hamor in Jerusalem.
Biography
Hans (Zvi Yisrael) Thau was born in Vienna t ...
of the Har Hamor yeshiva and led by Rabbi Dror Aryeh. The party announced on 28 July that it had agreed to a joint run with Otzma Yehudit, which Otzma approved the next day, though they split on 1August because Noam did not agree with Otzma including a secular Jewish candidate on the combined list. Following the failed deal with Otzma, Noam decided to run alone. The party launched a signature campaign on 27 August to gauge support, and dropped out of the race on 15 September.
Opinion polls
Allegations of misconduct
During election day, a number of parties complained to the Election Committee. Blue and White, Yamina, and the Israeli Labor Party
The Israeli Labor Party ( he, מִפְלֶגֶת הָעֲבוֹדָה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית, ), commonly known as HaAvoda ( he, הָעֲבוֹדָה, , The Labor), is a social democratic and Zionist political party in Israel. The p ...
complained that a number of polling stations had fake slips for their parties. Due to multiple claims of voting slip vandalism, the Central Elections Committee instructed election officials to count the slip as long as the letters were right and, if the slip was vandalized, with the sole purpose of invalidating it.
The official election committee published a notice regarding people who were impersonating committee officials in Kafr Qasim.
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 S ...
was criticised for giving out gifts at polling stations in Netanya
Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate ...
and Kfar Saba
Kfar Saba ( he, כְּפַר סָבָא), officially Kefar Sava, is a city in the Sharon region, of the Central District of Israel. In 2019 it had a population of 110,456, making it the 16th-largest city in Israel. The population of Kfar Saba ...
.
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
suspended a chatbot on Netanyahu's Facebook account for 24 hours on 12 September for "hate speech
Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...
", after it said that "a dangerous left-wing government" would rely on Arabs "who want to destroy us all—women, children, and men—and enable a nuclear Iran that would wipe us out"; Netanyahu remarked that he didn't write the statement, blamed a campaign staffer for the wording, and that the problem with the bot was immediately fixed.
On 25 September, the Central Election Commission revised its official vote count, giving Likud one extra seat at the cost of United Torah Judaism. The committee further announced that there was "real evidence of apparent vote tampering" in at least six polling stations.
Results
Members of the Knesset who lost their seats
Aftermath
The do-over election did not provide a clear view of the next government, as none could be formed without at least one party or leader reneging on their campaign promises on who should be prime minister, or on the religious-secular issue. Some mentioned the possibility of a third election. The day before the election, Benny Gantz
Benjamin Gantz ( he, בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ, Transliterated: ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general serving as the minister of Defense since 2020 and deputy prime minister of Israel si ...
called President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Reuven Rivlin
Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin ( he, רְאוּבֵן "רוּבִי" רִיבְלִין ; born 9 September 1939) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the tenth president of Israel between 2014 and 2021. He is a member of the Likud party. R ...
to try to avoid a third election at all costs, after 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 ...
had refused to rule them out.
On election night, Avigdor Lieberman of Yisrael Beiteinu
Yisrael Beiteinu ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵל בֵּיתֵנוּ, russian: Наш Дом Израиль, lit. ''Israel Our Home'') is a secularist, nationalist right-wing political party in Israel. The party's base was originally secular Russia ...
called for a "broad liberal government" that includes both Blue and White and Likud, and reiterated that he did not want to form any majority with the Arab parties. Benny Gantz claimed Prime ministership and Blue and White repeated that they would not form a government with Netanyahu, although they were open to one with Likud. Benyamin Netanyahu called for a "strong Zionist government". On the left, Labor-Gesher stated it wanted to bring Arab parties "to the table", some of which are open to recommending Gantz.[
On 18 September, Netanyahu met with the emissaries of Yamina, Shas, and UTJ, to build a right-wing bloc to negotiate together.
On 19 September, Rivlin, Netanyahu and Gantz met during a memorial ceremony for ]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 ...
. Netanyahu urged Gantz to speak with him about forming a unity government, for the sake of avoiding a third round of elections.[ Speaking for Blue and White, Gantz and Lapid both rejected Netanyahu's offer, saying Blue and White had won, and that Gantz had the right to lead a unity government committed to liberal policies on social issues, and thus refusing to discuss forming such a government with Netanyahu as long as right-wing religious parties were included. Lapid remarked that "if Netanyahu steps aside, we'll have a unity government".] Lieberman likewise accused Netanyahu of "deception" by offering a unity government, but conditioning it on the inclusion of religious parties.
The same day, Gantz met with Horowitz. His aides said they expect a meeting with other party leaders, Odeh and Peretz. Labor-Gesher's six MKs could allow Netanyahu's bloc of 55 to find a majority. Likud thus reportedly offered Peretz the Finance portfolio, and a raise of the minimum wage, but the same sources say Peretz turned down the offer, which goes against a campaign vow. Netanyahu met with Degel HaTorah MKs, who, along with other Haredi parties (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), are starting to backtrack on their refusal not to govern with Lapid, in the case Lapid himself U-turns on Netanyahu. Lieberman was equivocal as to whether he would support Gantz, fearing to be sidelined from a unity government, or one that includes Haredim. According to Channel 13, Gantz reportedly promised to include Yisrael Beiteinu in any coalition.
On 21 September, the 13 MKs from the Joint List met together. 10 of them—with three Balad MKs dissenting—expressed their readiness to nominate Gantz if he meets "basic demands" on the peace process, the Arab community's interests, and the Jewish nation-state law. President Rivlin met with party leaders on 22 September for the first day of talks. On 22 September 2019, the Joint List leader Ayman Odeh declared that the Joint List had agreed, by internal majority voting, to endorse Benny Gantz
Benjamin Gantz ( he, בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ, Transliterated: ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general serving as the minister of Defense since 2020 and deputy prime minister of Israel si ...
for prime minister, marking the first time an Arab-Israeli party had endorsed a Zionist for prime minister. Though initial reports suggested that the Joint List's recommendation gave Gantz a 57 to 55 edge, Rivlin revealed on 23 September that three Balad MKs—elected as part of the Joint List—demanded that their names be removed from a list of nominees of Gantz. After a day of confusion, Tibi and Odeh—leaders of the two pro-Gantz parties within Joint List—wrote a letter to Rivlin clarifying that the Joint List did not, in fact, have a unity agreement that legally binds individual parties to follow the party's nomination for the prime minister. As such, Balad's three MKs were legally allowed to ignore the Joint List's recommendation. As a result, Netanyahu leads Gantz in tallied recommendations by a 55 to 54 margin, with eight delegates from Yisrael Beiteinu and three delegates from Balad yet to recommend either. On 25 September, Rivlin selected Netanyahu to attempt to form the thirty-fifth government of Israel, but with the stipulation that if the attempt fails, Rivlin retains the mandate to nominate another candidate.
New members of Knesset were sworn in on 3October 2019. The same day, talks between Netanyahu and Lieberman ended with no breakthrough. Moments after it was announced that Netanyahu was aiming to demonstrate Likud party unity with a leadership contest, the Israeli Prime Minister received a challenge from Gideon Sa'ar, who tersely tweeted, "I'm ready", should the Prime Minister agree to hold a leadership election. On 4October, Netanyahu decided against holding a leadership election.
On 22 October, Netanyahu informed President Rivlin that he was unable to form a government. On 23 October, President Rivlin gave the mandate of forming a government to Gantz.
Gantz was then given 28 days to form a coalition to lead the government, but was unable and returned the mandate on 21 November. Following this, a period of 21 days began in which any Knesset member can lead the government if they submit 61 signatures to the president. Since no MK was able to form a government by 11 December, the Knesset again voted to dissolve itself, with new elections held on 2March 2020.
See also
*List of members of the twenty-second Knesset
The members of the 22nd Knesset were elected Elected may refer to:
* "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973
* ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008
*The Elected, an American indie rock band
See also
*Election
An election is a formal gro ...
* 2019 in Israel
* List of elections in 2019
References
External links
Elections for the 22nd Knesset
at the Israeli Central Elections Committee
{{Benjamin Netanyahu
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 ...
2019 09
Israeli legislative election
2019 09