The thirtieth government of Israel was formed by

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon ( ; also known by his diminutive Arik, ; 26 February 192811 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestin ...

on 28 February 2003, following

Likud Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...

's comprehensive victory in the January elections. His coalition initially included

Shinui Shinui () was a Zionist, secular, and anti-clerical free market Liberalism worldwide, liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third-largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a split and collaps ...

and the National Union, holding 60 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, whilst the two-seat

Yisrael BaAliyah Yisrael BaAliyah (, ) was a political party in Israel between its formation in 1996 and its merger into Likud in 2003. It was formed to represent the interests of Russian immigrants by former refuseniks Natan Sharansky and Yuli-Yoel Edelstein. ...

merged into Likud shortly after. The National Religious Party also joined the coalition on 3 March 2003, taking the number of seats it held up to 66. The parties formed a

center-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

coalition. The government became increasingly unstable due to the Gaza disengagement plan, with the National Union leaving the coalition on 6 June 2004, and the National Religious Party following on 11 November. On 4 December Shinui also left the government following disagreements over the budget.Factional and Government Make-Up of the Sixteenth Knesset
Knesset website On 10 January 2005,

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 labour ...

– Meimad joined the government, and was joined 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 ...

on 30 March. On 23 November 2005 Sharon and several other ministers left Likud to establish

Kadima Kadima () was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan in August 2005, and was soon ...

(initially known as National Responsibility), remaining in control of the government. Although Labor-Meimad left the government on the same day, Sharon remained in control until suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006, at which point Acting Prime Minister

Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert (; , ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009. The son of a former Herut politician, Olmert was first elected to the Knesset for Likud in 1973, at th ...

took temporary control. Although Likud left the government on 15 January, Olmert became Interim Prime Minister on 16 April, and remained head of the government until he formed the thirty-first government on 4 May 2006, following Kadima's victory in the March elections.

Cabinet members

¹ Although Sharansky was not an MK at the time of his appointment, he had been elected to the Knesset on the Yisrael BaAliyah list.

References

External links

Sixteenth Knesset: Government 30
Knesset website {{Israeli governments 30 Ariel Sharon 2003 establishments in Israel 2006 disestablishments in Israel Cabinets established in 2003 Cabinets disestablished in 2006 2003 in Israeli politics 2004 in Israeli politics 2005 in Israeli politics 2006 in Israeli politics 30