Elections to the Assembly of Representatives of

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 on 5 January 1931.

Mapai Mapai (, an abbreviation for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', ) was a Labor Zionist and democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in January ...

emerged as the largest party, winning 27 of the 71 seats.

Electoral system

The Jewish National Council reduced the number of seats in the Assembly from 221 to 71, the same number of representatives in the ancient Great Sanhedrin. Voting was open to all naturalized Palestinian citizens who were registered as Jewish and at least 20 years old. To ensure that representation of Sephardic and Yemenite Jews would reflect their share of Palestine's Jewish population, the National Council agreed to a provision guaranteeing 17 seats to Sephardic and Yemenite candidates, irrespective of their placement on their respective parties' lists. As a result, voter choice was limited by ethnic group;

Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language ...

could only vote for Ashkenazi lists, whilst

Sephardic Jews Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

and

Yemenite Jews Yemenite Jews, also known as Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ; ), are a Jewish diaspora group who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. After several waves of antisemitism, persecution, the vast majority ...

were similarly constrained.

Campaign

A total of 18 lists contested the elections, which were boycotted by

Agudat Yisrael Agudat Yisrael (; Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Agudas Yisroel'') is a Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jewish political party in Israel. It began as a political party representing Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews in Poland, originating in the Agudath Israel movement ...

in protest at women being allowed to vote and the

Yishuv The Yishuv (), HaYishuv Ha'ivri (), or HaYishuv HaYehudi Be'Eretz Yisra'el () was the community of Jews residing in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The term came into use in the 1880s, when there were about 2 ...

's approach to religious education and ritual slaughter.

Results

Aftermath

Following the elections, the Assembly elected the 23-member Jewish National Council, with eleven elected from Mapai, four from the Sephardim Bloc, three from Mizrachi, three from the General Zionists and two from smaller parties. The Revisionists refused to join the council on the basis that the Assembly had refused to pass three resolutions it presented on not taking part in the Legislative Council, overturning the decision 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 ...

to take part in a round table conference or to not send members to negotiate with the British government.

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

David Ben-Gurion