1999 Israeli general election

1999 Israeli general election
	Prime ministerial election
← 1996 2001 →
Turnout	78.71%
Prime Minister before election; Benjamin Netanyahu; Likud	Prime Minister after election ; Ehud Barak; One Israel
	Knesset election
← 1996 2003 →
Dan Tichon; Likud	Avraham Burg; One Israel

Early general elections for both the Prime Minister and the Knesset were held in Israel on 17 May 1999 following a vote of no confidence in the government; the incumbent Likud Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ran for re-election.

This election was only the second time in Israeli history an election had been held for the Prime Minister's post in addition to elections for the Knesset. The first such election, in 1996 had been an extremely tight contest between Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu on the right, and Labor's Shimon Peres on the left; the right had won by less than one percent (about 29,000 votes).

Ehud Barak, promising peace talks and withdrawal from Lebanon by July 2000,^[1]^[2] won the election.

History

In the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, although the Likud government had negotiated the Wye River Memorandum and it had passed the Knesset overwhelmingly in November 1998, subsequent negotiations with the Palestinians were going badly. The lack of progress had alienated support for the government on the left, as well as on its right. The left claimed negotiations were moving too slowly, while the more extreme right were unhappy with the contemplated territorial concessions included in the memorandum itself.

The Likud–Gesher–Tzomet alliance had fallen apart, with more members leaving Likud to set up Herut – The National Movement and the Centre Party.

Netanyahu's government finally gave up the ghost due to difficulties in passing the state budget and in January 1999 passed a bill calling for early elections.

Ehud Barak, the leader of the main opposition Labor Party, was Netanyahu's main challenger in this election. Before the elections, Ehud Barak's Labor Party formed an alliance with Gesher and Meimad called One Israel in the hope that a united front on the centre-left would give them enough seats to form a more stable coalition.

The rising death toll and lack of military victory in Israel's long-running occupation in south Lebanon had soured voter support for the Likud policy.

Campaign

Initially, three other candidates planned to run; these included: Benny Begin of Herut – The National Movement, running to the right of Likud; Azmi Bishara of the Israeli Arab Balad party, running to the left of One Israel and the first from that minority to stand for prime minister, and; Yitzhak Mordechai of the Centre Party, running on positions between those of Likud on the right and One Israel on the left.

Over the course of the campaign however, Begin, Bishara, and Mordechai all dropped out of the race for prime minister, after it became clear that they could not win, and that their continued presence would cost votes for the major candidates, Barak and Netanyahu, at their respective ends of the political spectrum. The parties these other candidates represented however, continued to run in the concurrent Knesset elections.

Two parties, Manhigut Yehudit and Voice of the Environment, initially signed up to participate in the elections, but withdrew their candidacy before election day.

Debates

Organizer	P Present I Invitee N Non-invitee
	Likud	Center Party	Refs
			Refs
Mashal Ham	P Benjamin Netanyahu	P Yitzhak Mordechai	^[3]

Results

Prime minister


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Ehud Barak	One Israel	1,791,020	56.08
	Benjamin Netanyahu	Likud	1,402,474	43.92
Total			3,193,494	100.00

Valid votes			3,193,494	94.68
Invalid/blank votes			179,458	5.32
Total votes			3,372,952	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			4,285,428	78.71
Source: Nohlen et al.

Knesset



Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	One Israel	670,484	20.26	26	−11
	Likud	468,103	14.14	19	−8
	Shas	430,676	13.01	17	+7
	Meretz	253,525	7.66	10	+1
	Yisrael BaAliyah	171,705	5.19	6	−1
	Shinui	167,748	5.07	6	New
	Centre Party	165,622	5.00	6	New
	National Religious Party	140,307	4.24	5	−4
	United Torah Judaism	125,741	3.80	5	+1
	United Arab List	114,810	3.47	5	−1
	National Union	100,181	3.03	4	New
	Hadash	87,022	2.63	3	−1
	Yisrael Beiteinu	86,153	2.60	4	New
	Balad	66,103	2.00	2	+1
	One Nation	64,143	1.94	2	New
	Pnina Rosenblum	44,953	1.36	0	New
	Power for Pensioners	37,525	1.13	0	New
	Ale Yarok	34,029	1.03	0	New
	The Third Way	26,290	0.79	0	–4
	Green Party	13,292	0.40	0	New
	Tikva	7,366	0.22	0	New
	Casino Party	6,540	0.20	0	New
	Lev LaOlim	6,311	0.19	0	New
	Negev Party	4,324	0.13	0	New
	Tzomet	4,128	0.12	0	New
	Natural Law Party	2,924	0.09	0	New
	Progressive Center Party	2,797	0.08	0	New
	Da'am Workers Party	2,151	0.06	0	0
	New Arab Party	2,042	0.06	0	New
	Justice for All	1,257	0.04	0	New
	Moreshet Avot	1,164	0.04	0	New
Total		3,309,416	100.00	120	0

Valid votes		3,309,416	98.09
Invalid/blank votes		64,332	1.91
Total votes		3,373,748	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		4,285,428	78.73
Source: IDI, Nohlen et al.

Yisrael Beiteinu gained a seat after the vote-sharing process was completed.

Aftermath

Although Barak won the Prime Ministerial election comfortably, his One Israel alliance won only 26 seats, meaning he had to form a convoluted coalition with Shas, Meretz, Yisrael BaAliyah, the Centre Party, the National Religious Party and United Torah Judaism.

When Barak's government collapsed after the start of the Second Intifada and the October Israeli Arab riots in 2000, Barak called new elections for Prime Minister in the hope of winning an authoritative mandate. However, he was well-beaten by Ariel Sharon and subsequently retired from politics.

15th Knesset

After winning the Prime Ministerial elections, Ehud Barak formed the 28th government of Israel on 6 July 1999. His coalition included One Israel, Shas, Meretz, Yisrael BaAliyah, the Centre Party, the National Religious Party and United Torah Judaism, and initially had 16 ministers, though the number later rose to 24. Avraham Burg was appointed as Speaker of the Knesset.

United Torah Judaism left the coalition in September 1999 after a breach of the Sabbath. The government finally collapsed on 10 December 2000 when Barak resigned in the face of the outbreak of the Second Intifada and the Israeli Arab riots of October. Barak called new elections for the position of Prime Minister, which he lost to Ariel Sharon.

Sharon formed the 29th government on 7 March 2001. He set up a national unity government, including Likud, Labor-Meimad, Shas, the Centre Party, the National Religious Party, United Torah Judaism, Yisrael BaAliyah, and National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu. Sharon's government had 26 ministers, which later rose to 29, necessitating the addition of a small table to the end of the Ministers row in the Knesset.

During the Knesset term, there were several splits, mergers, and defections. The One Israel alliance broke into its constituent parts, Labor-Meimad (25 seats) and Gesher (2 seats). Five members left the Centre Party, with three forming New Way and two establishing Lev, which immediately merged into Likud. Later, two of the three that set up New Way resigned from the Knesset and were replaced by Centre Party members, whilst the remaining New Way MK joined Labor-Meimad. Two MKs left Yisrael BaAliyah to establish the Democratic Choice, whilst three MKs left the United Arab List; two established the Arab National Party and one formed National Unity – National Progressive Alliance. Michael Kleiner left the National Union to establish Herut – The National Movement, whilst the National Union became allied to Yisrael Beiteinu. Ahmed Tibi left Balad to establish Ta'al.

References

^ Barak calls early election The Guardian, 29 November 2000
^ Israel's Withdrawal from Lebanon Archived 2010-10-16 at the Wayback Machine ADL
^ "ערוץ 2: עימות הבחירות נתניהו-מרדכי, 13.04.1999". YouTube.

External links

Historical overview of the Fifteenth Knesset Knesset website (in English)
Election results Knesset website
Documentary about the election by KAN [VPN needed with an Israeli IP address]

[1] Barak calls early election The Guardian, 29 November 2000

[2] Israel's Withdrawal from Lebanon Archived 2010-10-16 at the Wayback Machine ADL

[3] "ערוץ 2: עימות הבחירות נתניהו-מרדכי, 13.04.1999". YouTube.

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