Legislative elections were held in Israel on 1 November 1988. Voter turnout was 80%.Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p127
Parliament factions
The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 11th Knesset. Name Ideology Symbol Leader 1984 resultSeats at 1988dissolution Votes (%) Seats Alignment Social democracyLabor Zionism Shimon Peres34.9% Mapam Labor ZionismDemocratic socialism Yair Tzaban Likud National liberalism Yitzhak Shamir31.9% Tehiya UltranationalismRevisionist Zionism Yuval Ne'emanRafael Eitan4.0% Mafdal Religious Zionism Yosef Burg3.5% Hadash CommunismSocialism Meir Vilner3.4% Shas Religious conservatismPopulism Yitzhak Peretz3.1% Shinui LiberalismCentrism Amnon Rubinstein2.7% Ratz ProgressivismSecularism Shulamit Aloni2.4% Yahad Centrism Ezer Weizman2.2% PLP Pacifism Mohammed Miari1.8% Agudat Yisrael Religious conservatism Avraham Yosef Shapira1.7% Morasha Religious conservatismSocial conservatism Haim Drukman1.6% Tzomet AgrarianismZionism Rafael Eitan- Tami Religious ZionismEconomic egalitarianism Aharon Abuhatzira1.5% Kach Religious ZionismKahanism Meir Kahane1.2% Ometz National liberalism Yigal Hurvitz1.2% Mada Israeli Arab interests Abdulwahab Darawshe- Independent - - --
Campaign
On 8 October 1988, the Alignment leader Shimon Peres visited the Likud stronghold Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem. There, he was greeted by a mob of angry protesters, who called him "Peres Arafat", a "traitor", and a "maniac", and threw buckets of cold water at him, forcing dozens of police officers being called to guide Peres away from the demonstrators.
On the same day, Ratz's Yossi Sarid unsuccessfully testified to the Central Elections Committee to block the ultranationalist pro-transfer Moledet party from running, while the Progressive leader Muhammad Miari demanded to disqualify Moledet, Tehiya and Tzomet. This came as the Justice Minister Avraham Sharir (Likud) tried to get Miari arrested for meeting with Yasser Arafat.
Ratz's surge in the polls caused fear among the right-wing parties. Likud's youth wing handed out letters saying, "If you want a big strong Ratz, but in opposition, vote for Ratz, but if you want a smaller Ratz, but in government, vote for the Alignment."
During the campaign, left-wing parties were in a state of conflict. Mapam and Ratz rejected the possibility of running on a joint list. When Ratz signed a surplus vote agreement with the Alignment, Mapam accused Ratz of wanting to "remove Mapam from the political scene", to which Ratz leader Shulamit Aloni responded by saying that "Mapam's panic is understandable. It is a spoiled party, rich in assets and jobs, which fears any young, fresh organization without vested economic interests that comes to fight with clean hands." She also highlighted the inevitability of the two parties becoming allies, comparing Mapam to the biblical character Saul throwing his spear at David. Further to the left, there was outright hostility between the Progressive List for Peace and Hadash, resulting in physical altercations between their activists.
The PLP criticised Ratz for giving its 'unconditional' support to Shimon Peres's bid to become prime minister, while ignoring the fact that Peres was set to appoint Yitzhak Rabin, who the PLP called 'a minister of blood and gore', as Defense Minister. The PLP criticised Ratz, Hadash, Mapam and Shinui for not assembling a coherent singular force for peace in the Knesset. The PLP also stated they would not support a Peres-led government if it was not up to their standards.
The Jericho bus firebombing, which killed an Israeli mother and her three children, galvanised voters to force a last-minute swing to the right, just when the Alignment was gaining on the Likud in polls.Meisels, Andrew and Gradstein, Linda (November 1, 1988) "Firebombing Of Bus May Tilt Israeli Election To The Right" , Sun Sentinel(December 9, 1988) "A Year of Palestinian Revolt", The New York Times
Party slogans
Party or allianceOriginal sloganEnglish translationRefs Likud "" "Only the Likud can" Alignment "" "The Alignment, the path to a breakthrough" Mafdal"We need faith in the country" Mapam "" "This time, Mapam" Hadash "" "Two states for two peoples" Ratz "" "The facts point to Ratz" Shinui"There is a sensible solution, the centre - Shinui!"Tehiya"""It's time to wake up to Tehiya [a revival]"Tzomet"""All roads lead to Tzomet [crossroad]"Moledet"There is only one homeland"Degel HaTorah"This time there is a choice - Degel HaTorah"
Debates DateOrganizerModerator Present Invitee Non-invitee LikudAlignmentRefsPYitzhak ShamirPShimon Peres
Surplus-vote agreements
Two parties could make an agreement so that they were considered to be running on a joint list when leftover seats were distributed. The Bader–Ofer method favors larger lists, meaning that a joint list is more likely to receive leftover seats than each list would individually. If such a joint list were to receive a leftover seat, the Bader–Ofer method would be applied a second time to determine which of the parties that make up the joint list would receive it.The Distribution of Knesset Seats Among the Lists – the Bader-Offer Method, Knesset website The following agreements were signed by parties prior to the election:
Alignment-Ratz Shas-Degel HaTorah Mapam-Shinui Likud-Tehiya The Movement for a Just Society - Yemenite Association in Israel
Opinion polls
The Israel Broadcasting Authority separated the parties into two blocs: Left-wing: Jewish: Alignment, Ratz, Mapam, Shinui, Meimad Arab: Hadash, PLP, Mada Right-wing: Secular: Likud, Tehiya, Tzomet, Moledet. Hadashot also included Kach in this grouping. Religious: Agudat Yisrael, Shas, Degel HaTorah, Mafdal, Morasha (dropped out in August 1988).
Ometz dissolved into Likud, and Yahad ran as part of the Alignment.
Ma'ariv polled Morasha together with Mafdal. Seat projections Note: Political blocs do not necessarily determine the exact makeup of post-election coalitions. Hadashot published polls in percentages, which have been approximated into seat totals through the D'Hondt method, assuming surplus-vote agreements stay the same when possible.
Some polls gave certain seat totals as a range of numbers, for which the average has been given. DatePoll clientLikudAlignmentMapamTehiyaTzometHadashPLPMadaShinuiRatzMorashaMafdalShasAgudat YisraelDegelKachMoledetMeimadOthersLeadLeftRightLeadFinal results403933241125defunct5652 banned2001507020Exit poll on Channel 14040332520265521200Tie58624Smith Research Center404136N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A6N/A5N/AN/A10N/A1N/AN/AN/A28 October 1988Tazpit Institute40432516227332111036357628 October 1988Modi'in Ezrachi433338281854211101055651028 October 1988Israel Research Institute4042271.543.5163.5421.51.51.5026060Tie21 October 1988Israel Research Institute404227161.56.53.53.521.5N/A0.51.5258.5601.520 October 1988Modi'in Ezrachi403337281953215N/AN/A075466126-10 October 1988Hadashot38442614222752211106635764 October 1988The Central Elections Committee forbids Kach from running in the election2-8 October 1988Hadashot4138273624defunct106N/AN/AN/A3526816Maariv4134272818433N/A6N/A1N/A754661226 August-8 October 1988Hadashot3937273727880N/A0255651023 September 1988Hadashot433926142126632N/A2N/A10461592August-5 September 1988Hadashot36462437N/A27432N/A21101063576May-October 1988Hadashot393928371894N/AN/A0Tie57636Maariv4234271726543N/A7N/AN/A08516918Maariv4135273727433N/A6N/AN/A06536714June 1988Hadashot404517142N/A25N/A533N/A2N/AN/A0559612March 1988Hadashot444116142N/A26N/A542N/A2N/AN/A035664815 February 1988Abdulwahab Darawshe leaves the Alignment to establish the Arab Democratic Party (Mada)January 1988Hadashot384415142not founded26N/A653N/A4N/AN/A065961225 December 1987Hadashot374616N/A635N/A552not founded2not foundednot founded01161592December 1987Tzomet splits from Tehiya and becomes an independent party againJune 1987Ma'ariv3646286not founded25N/A442not founded5not foundednot founded01061592March 1987Ma'ariv354827624N/A64240136258427 January 1987Ma'ariv345326635N/A4412019675314July 1986Ma'ariv32512962614322019675314June 1986Tzomet folds into Tehiya28 February 1986Ma'ariv3055276not founded151442not founded2not foundednot founded025695118November 1985Ma'ariv32531862413325021665412September 1985Ma'ariv305118617133270216654129 August 1985Hadashot3351166N/A2414225.52.5186454.59.511 June 1985HaBonim train-bus collision, 22 (mostly children) killed, Shas blames the victims for violating Shabbat, leading to public outrage1 June 19851985 Israel Economic Stabilization Plan introduced23 September 1984Mapam leaves the AlignmentOutgoing Knesset4238541521441532not founded1not foundednot founded11576361984 results4247| colspan="2" |5 |4 |2 |not founded |3 |3 |2 |4 |4 |2 | 0 |1 |1 |557636
Results
Political observers noted that if Hadash and the Progressive List for Peace had made a surplus vote agreement, the latter would have won a surplus seat, which was ultimately won by the Shas-Degel surplus agreement.
Aftermath
Likud's Yitzhak Shamir formed the twenty-third government on 22 December 1988, including the Alignment, the National Religious Party, Shas, Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah in his coalition, with 25 ministers.
In 1990 Shimon Peres tried to form an Alignment-led coalition in a move that became known as "the dirty trick", but failed to win sufficient support. Eventually Shamir formed the twenty-fourth government on 11 June 1990, with a coalition encompassing Likud, the National Religious Party, Shas, Agudat Yisrael, Degel HaTorah, the New Liberal Party, Tehiya, Tzomet, Moledet, Unity for Peace and Immigration and Geulat Yisrael. Tehiya, Tzomet and Moledet all left the coalition in late 1991/early 1992 in protest at Shamir's participation in the Madrid Conference.
Several defections occurred during the Knesset term; five members of Likud left to form the Party for the Advancement of the Zionist Idea. After two of them returned, the party was renamed the New Liberal Party. Yitzhak Peretz left Shas and established Moria. Eliezer Mizrahi left Agudat Yisrael and established Geulat Yisrael. Efraim Gur left the Alignment to establish Unity for Peace and Immigration, which later merged into Likud.
The Twelfth Knesset saw the rise of the ultra-orthodox religious parties as a significant force in Israeli politics, and as a crucial "swing" element which could determine which of the large two secular parties (Likud, Alignment) would get to form the coalition government. Ratz, Mapam, and Shinui merged into Meretz, while Black Panthers broke away from Hadash.
Notes
References
External links Historical overview of the Twelfth Knesset Knesset website Election results Knesset website