The first elections to the Assembly of Representatives in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

were held amongst members of the Jewish community on 19 April 1920, except in Jerusalem where voting took place on 3 May.

Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda () was the name used by a series of List of political parties in Israel, political parties in Israel. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the period of Mandatory Pales ...

led by

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 ...

emerged as the largest party, winning 70 of the 314 seats.

Background

Following the British conquest of Ottoman Palestine in 1917, Jewish leaders met in

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva (, ), also spelt Petah Tiqwa and known informally as Em HaMoshavot (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of the Old Y ...

on 17 November to discuss the formation of a representative convention. Zalman Abramov (1976) ''Perpetual dilemma: Jewish religion in the Jewish State'' Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, p 87–88 After

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

fell to the British, another convention was held, this time in

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

, to discuss the establishment of an organisation for the Jews of Palestine.Abramov, p88 A committee was formed with the mandate to hold elections to a Constituent Assembly. With northern Palestine still held by the Ottomans, a second convention was held in Jaffa in July 1918 and elections were scheduled to be held by the end of 1918. However, after the

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

was signed in November, delegates were required to represent Palestinian Jews at the peace conference. A third convention was held in Jaffa on 18 December, to which every settlement, community and political party were invited.

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 ...

and

Nahum Sokolow Nahum ben Joseph Samuel Sokolow ( ''Nachum ben Yosef Shmuel Soqolov'', ; 10 January 1859 – 17 May 1936) was a Jewish-Polish people, Polish writer, translator, and journalist, the fifth President of the World Zionist Organization, editor of ''H ...

were chosen to represent the community at the peace conference. The elections were then postponed several times,Abramov, p89 before they were fixed for 26 October 1919.Abramov, p90 However, they were postponed again as Weizmann was worried that internal divisions would weaken the Jewish negotiating position. The date was finally set for 19 April 1920 after it was confirmed that the British would have the

Mandate for Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British Empire, British administration of the territories of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine and Emirate of Transjordan, Transjordanwhich had been Ottoman Syria, part of the Ottoman ...

Electoral system

At the first meeting in Jaffa, it was decided that the election would be held using secret balloting, and would be direct. However, no agreement was made on

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

. The second meeting confirmed that men and women over the age of 21 would be entitled to vote, although the issue of women candidates remained unresolved. The issue was raised at the third Jaffa convention, and despite opposition from Orthodox Jews, it was decided that women would be allowed to stand as candidates. However, ultimately the Orthodox held separate elections in Jerusalem on 3 May, from which women were banned from participating. Voters elected one member for every 80 voters, except for the Orthodox, who elected one for every 40 voters on the basis that women were banned from their vote. A total of 263 delegates were elected in the general voting, and another 51 by Orthodox voters.

Results

Around 22,000 of the 26,000 registered voters participated in the election.

Aftermath

The Assembly met for the first time on 7 October 1920, and voted to admit the 51 Orthodox representatives. It also elected the Jewish National Council to serve as an executive committee.

References

{{Israeli elections

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

Elections in Israel Assembly

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results David Ben-Gurion