1959 Israeli legislative election

none Israel 1955 1961 All 120 seats in the Knesset 61 81.6% ( 1.2 pp) 3 November 1959 Mapai David Ben-Gurion 47 40 38.2 Herut Menachem Begin 17 15 13.5 National Religious Party Haim-Moshe Shapira 12 11 9.9 Mapam Meir Ya'ari 9 9 7.2 General Zionists Yosef Sapir 8 13 6.2 Ahdut HaAvoda Yisrael Galili 7 10 6.0 Religious Torah Front Yitzhak-Meir Levin 6 6 4.7 Progressive Party (Israel) Pinchas Rosen 6 5 4.6 Maki (historical political party) Shmuel Mikunis 3 6 2.8 Progress and Development Ahmed A-Dahar 2 new 1.3 Cooperation and Brotherhood Labib Abu Rokan 2 new 1.1 Agriculture and Development Mahmud Al-Nashaf 1 1 1.1 David Ben-Gurion Mapai David Ben-Gurion Mapai Prime Minister Legislative elections were held in Israel on 3 November 1959 to elect the 120 members of the fourth Knesset. Mapai remained the dominant party, gaining seven seats. Following the elections, Mapai leader David Ben-Gurion formed ninth government on 17 December 1959. His coalition included the National Religious Party, Mapam, Ahdut HaAvoda, the Progressive Party and the three Israeli Arab parties, Progress and Development, Cooperation and Brotherhood and Agriculture and Development. The government had 16 ministers. Mapai's Kadish Luz became the Speaker of the Knesset. Voter turnout was 81.6%.Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p124 0-19-924958-X Results File:1959 Knesset.svg Mapai 370585 47 +7 Herut 130515 17 +2 National Religious Party 95581 12 +1 Mapam 69468 9 0 General Zionists 59700 8 −5 Ahdut HaAvoda 58043 7 −3 Religious Torah Front 45569 6 0 Progressive Party 44889 6 +1 Maki 27374 3 −3 Progress and Development 12347 2 New Cooperation and Brotherhood 11104 2 New Agriculture and Development 10902 1 0 Union of North African Immigrants 8199 0 New Progress and Work 4651 0 −2 Independent Faction for Israeli Arabs 3818 0 New Israeli Arab Labour Party 3369 0 New Sephardi National Party 3133 0 New National Union 2456 0 0 Holocaust Handicapped and Injured Faction 1765 0 New Yemenite Faction 1711 0 0 Independents 1611 0 New Socialist Union (Bund) 1322 0 New New Immigrants Front 631 0 0 Third Power 594 0 New 24967 0 1218483 IDI,IDI Nohlen et al. Ahdut HaAvoda Aftermath The government collapsed when Ben-Gurion resigned on 31 January 1961, over a motion of no-confidence brought by Herut and the General Zionists in the wake of the Lavon Affair. When Ben-Gurion was unable to form a new government new elections were called. Serving one year and nine months, the fourth Knesset was the shortest Knesset term until the five-month twenty-first Knesset in 2019. See also List of members of the fourth Knesset References External links Historical overview of the Fourth Knesset Knesset website Elections to the Fourth Knesset Knesset website Factional and Government Make-Up of the Fourth Knesset Knesset website Israel Legislative election Category:Legislative elections in Israel Category:November 1959 in Asia Israel Category:David Ben-Gurion Category:Menachem Begin