The seventeenth government of Israel was formed by Yitzhak Rabin on 3 June 1974, following the resignation of Prime Minister Golda Meir on 11 April and Rabin's election as Labor Party leader on 26 April. It was the first time an Israeli government had been led by a native-born Israeli (although Rabin was born in the British Mandate for Palestine prior to independence).1974 timeline Jewish Agency for Israel
As well as the 54-seat Alignment (of which the Labor Party was the largest faction, alongside Mapam and the two Labor-affiliated Israeli Arab parties, Progress and Development and the Arab List for Bedouin and Villagers, which merged into the United Arab List towards the end of the Knesset term), Rabin also included the Independent Liberals, who held four seats, and Ratz, which had three. The coalition had only a one-seat majority, with just 61 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, and was the first in Israeli political history to not contain a religious party. This status lasted until 30 October when the National Religious Party (NRP) joined the coalition, taking the number of seats up to 71, although Ratz left on 6 November, reducing the number by three. In forming the government, Rabin dropped the development portfolio.Eighth Knesset: Government 16 Knesset websiteEighth Knesset: Government 17 Knesset website
The government was dissolved by Rabin on 22 December 1976, following the abstention of the NRP on a vote of no confidence regarding an apparent breach of the Sabbath during a ceremony at an Israeli Air Force base, but continued, without the NRP members, who all resigned on 22 December, as a caretaker government until the formation of the eighteenth government following the May 1977 elections. However, following the Dollar Account affair in March 1977, Rabin announced on 6 April that he was resigning as head of the Labor Party, and Minister of Defense Shimon Peres was unanimously elected to succeed him. As Israeli law prohibited resignation from a caretaker government, Rabin suspended himself from his duties as Prime Minister and Peres took his place as an unofficial acting Prime Minister.Israeli Government- Legal Situation Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 6 November 1995
Cabinet members PositionPersonPartyPrime MinisterYitzhak RabinAlignmentDeputy Prime MinisterYigal AllonAlignmentMinister of AgricultureAharon UzanNot an MK 1Minister of CommunicationsYitzhak Rabin (until 20 March 1975)AlignmentAharon Uzan (from 20 March 1975)Not an MK 1Minister of DefenseShimon PeresAlignmentMinister of Education and CultureAharon YadlinAlignmentMinister of FinanceYehoshua Rabinowitz 2Not an MKMinister of Foreign AffairsYigal AllonAlignmentMinister of HealthVictor Shem-TovNot an MK 1Minister of HousingAvraham Ofer (until 3 January 1977)3AlignmentShlomo Rosen (from 16 January 1977)Not an MK 1Minister of Immigrant AbsorptionShlomo RosenNot an MK 1Minister of InformationAharon YarivAlignmentMinister of Internal AffairsShlomo Hillel (until 29 October 1974)Alignment Yosef Burg (29 October 1974 - 22 December 1976)National Religious PartyShlomo Hillel (from 16 January 1977)AlignmentMinister of JusticeHaim Yosef ZadokAlignmentMinister of LabourMoshe BaramAlignmentMinister of PoliceShlomo HillelAlignmentMinister of ReligionsHaim Yosef Zadok (until 29 October 1974)AlignmentYitzhak Rafael (30 October 1974 - 22 December 1976)National Religious PartyHaim Yosef Zadok (from 16 January 1977)AlignmentMinister of TourismMoshe KolNot an MK 4Minister of Trade and IndustryHaim Bar-LevNot an MK 2Minister of TransportationGad YaacobiAlignmentMinister of WelfareVictor Shem-Tov (until 29 October 1974)Not an MK 1Michael Hasani (30 October 1974 - 2 July 1975)5National Religious PartyYitzhak Rabin (7 July 1975 - 29 July 1975)AlignmentYosef Burg (29 July 1975 - 4 November 1975)National Religious PartyZevulun Hammer (4 November 1975 - 22 December 1976)National Religious PartyMoshe Baram (from 16 January 1977)AlignmentMinister without PortfolioShulamit Aloni (until 6 November 1974)RatzYisrael GaliliAlignmentGideon HausnerNot an MK 4Deputy Minister of AgricultureJabr Muadi (from 24 March 1975)Alignment,Progress and Development,United Arab ListJabr Muadi (until 24 March 1975)AlignmentEliyahu Moyal (from 24 March 1975)Alignment
1 Although Rosen, Shem-Tov and Uzan were not members of the Knesset at the time, they had previously been MKs for the Alignment.
2 Although Bar-Lev and Rabinovitz were not MKs at the time, they were later elected to the Knesset on the Alignment list.
3 Ofer committed suicide following the Yadlin affair.
4 Kol and Hausner had been elected to the Knesset on the Independent Liberals list, but resigned their seats after being appointed to the cabinet.
5 Hasani died in office.
References
External links Eighth Knesset: Government 17 Knesset website