1949 Israeli Constituent Assembly election

none February 2022 1944 1951 25 January 1949 86.88% Israel yes Mapai David Ben-Gurion 46 35.72 Mapam Yitzhak Tabenkin 19 14.73 United Religious Front Yehuda Leib Maimon 16 12.19 Herut Menachem Begin 14 11.45 General Zionists Israel Rokach 7 5.21 Progressive Party (Israel) Pinchas Rosen 5 4.09 Sephardim and Oriental Communities Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit 4 3.52 Maki (historical political party) Shmuel Mikunis 4 3.48 Democratic List of Nazareth Seif el-Din el-Zoubi 2 1.70 Fighters' List Nathan Yellin-Mor 1 1.23 Women's International Zionist Organization Rachel Cohen-Kagan 1 1.19 Yemenite Association Zecharia Glosca 1 1.01 Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion Mapai David Ben-Gurion Mapai thumb|right|250px|David Ben-Gurion campaigning for Mapai before the election of the Israeli Constituent Assembly, 20 January 1949 thumb|325x325px|Mapai posters comparing Herut leader Menachem Begin to Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. thumb|Israeli election posters, 1949 Constituent Assembly elections were held in newly independent Israel on 25 January 1949. Voter turnout was 86.9%.Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p123 0-19-924958-X Two days after its first meeting on 14 February 1949, legislators voted to change the name of the body to the Knesset (Hebrew: כנסת, translated as Assembly). It is known today as the First Knesset. Background thumb|Voting in Nazareth 1949 During the establishment of the state of Israel in May 1948, Israel's national institutions were established, which ruled the new state. These bodies were not elected bodies in the pure sense, and their members originated from the management of the Jewish agency and from the management of the Jewish National Council.February 2022 The Israeli Declaration of Independence stated that: We declare that, with effect from the moment of the termination of the Mandate being tonight, the eve of Sabbath, the 6th Iyar, 5708 (15th May, 1948), until the establishment of the elected, regular authorities of the State in accordance with the Constitution which shall be adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than the 1st October 1948, the People's Council shall act as a Provisional Council of State, and its executive organ, the People's Administration, shall be the Provisional Government of the Jewish State, to be called "Israel".Declaration of Establishment of State of Israel Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs However, the elections were not held before the designated date due to the ongoing war and were cancelled twice, while no constitution was ever adopted. The elections were eventually held on 25 January 1949. Preparations for the elections These were the first nationwide elections held in Israel and required the creation of an electoral register. A population census was conducted on 8 November 1948, partly to establish the electoral register and issue residents with identification documents. A seven-hour curfew was imposed so that enumerators could record residents at their homes.The Census – Historical Perspective https://www.cbs.gov.il/en/Surveys/Pages/The-Census-Historical-Perspective.aspx Israel Central Bureau of Statistics 28 August 2026 On 5 November 1948 the Provisional State Council determined that the Constituent Assembly would have 120 members. The election used nationwide proportional representation, based on the system previously used for elections to the Assembly of Representatives of the Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine. No statutory electoral threshold applied, although the method used to allocate the 120 seats produced a natural threshold of approximately 0.83 per cent of the valid vote.The National Electoral Threshold: A Comparative Review Across Countries and over Time https://main.knesset.gov.il/EN/activity/mmm/The%20NationalElectoralThreshold.pdf Knesset Research and Information Center 2019 13 28 August 2026 Approximately 1,000 polling stations were used. Contesting parties A total of 21 parties registered to contest the elections. Party or allianceHead of listBallot letterDemocratic List of NazarethSeif el-Din el-ZoubiידFighters' ListNathan Yellin-MorטוFor Jerusalem ListDaniel AusterטGeneral ZionistsIsrael RokachצHerutMenachem BeginחJabotinsky Movement – Brit HatzoharAryeh AltmanגMakiShmuel MikunisקMapaiDavid Ben GurionאMapamYitzhak TabenkinמProgressive PartyPinchas Rosenפ Popular Arab BlocGeorge Nasserת Sephardim and Oriental CommunitiesBechor-Shalom SheetritסTraditional Judaism ListMordechai BoxbaumיטHaredi ListEliyahu KitovיחUnited List of Religious WorkersYeshayahu LeibowitzשUnited Religious FrontHaim Moshe ShapiraבWIZORachel Cohen-KaganנWorkers Bloc'Abd al-Rahman al-HusseiniיאWorking and Religious WomenTova SanhadrayפדYemenite AssociationZecharia GloscaלYitzhak Gruenbaum ListYitzhak Gruenbaumיג Results File:Israeli Constituent Assembly (1st Knesset) Composition.svg Mapai 155274 46 Mapam 64018 19 United Religious Front 52982 16 Herut 49782 14 General Zionists 22661 7 Progressive Party 17786 5 Sephardim and Oriental Communities 15287 4 Maki 15148 4 Democratic List of Nazareth 7387 2 Fighters' List 5363 1 Women's International Zionist Organization 5173 1 Yemenite Association 4399 1 Workers Bloc #BC4840 3214 0 Jabotinsky Movement – Brit HaTzohar 2892 0 Haredi List #1F1B18 2835 0 Popular Arab Bloc #A84F43 2812 0 Working and Religious Women #343C60 2796 0 Yitzhak Gruenbaum List #2A91B7 2514 0 United List of Religious Workers #5B4E4C 1280 0 For Jerusalem #35849E 842 0 Traditional Judaism List #000000 239 0 5411 506567 Nohlen et al., Central Election Commission Aftermath On 19 May 1948, the Provisional Assembly confirmed Hebrew and Arabic as the official languages of Israel, removing English as an official language. The Constituent Assembly convened in February 1949. During the Knesset term Eliezer Preminger left Maki and re-established the Hebrew Communists before joining Mapam, while Ari Jabotinsky and Hillel Kook, both associated with the Bergson Group in the United States, broke away from Herut; they were not recognised as a separate party by the speaker. First government First government of Israel thumb|Ben Gurion casting his vote for the Israeli Constituent Assembly The first government was formed on 8 March 1949 with David Ben-Gurion as Prime Minister. His Mapai party formed a coalition with the United Religious Front, the Progressive Party, the Sephardim and Oriental Communities and the Democratic List of Nazareth, and there were 12 ministers. Yosef Sprinzak of Mapai was appointed as the speaker. On 16 February 1949, the First Knesset elected Chaim Weizmann as the first (largely ceremonial) President of Israel. It also passed an educational law in 1949 which introduced compulsory schooling for all children between the ages of 5 and 14.The Challenge Of Israel by Misha Louvish. Publisher: Jerusalem Israel Univ Press; 1st Edition (1968). ASIN B000OKO5U2. On 5 July 1950, it passed the Law of Return. The trend of political instability in Israel was started when Ben-Gurion resigned on 15 October 1950 over disagreements with the United Religious Front on education in the new immigrant camps and the religious education system, as well as demands that the Supply and Rationing Ministry be closed and a businessman appointed as Minister for Trade and Industry. Second government Second government of Israel Ben-Gurion formed a second government on 1 November 1950 with the same coalition partners as previously, though there was a slight reshuffle in his cabinet; David Remez moved from the Transportation ministry to Education, replacing Zalman Shazar (who was left out of the new cabinet), whilst Dov Yosef replaced Remez as Minister of Transportation. Ya'akov Geri was appointed Minister of Trade and Industry despite not being a Member of the Knesset. There was also a new Deputy Minister in the Transportation ministry. The door was opened for the elections for the second knesset when the government resigned on 14 February 1951 after the Knesset had rejected the Minister of Education and Culture's proposals on the registration of schoolchildren. See also List of members of the first Knesset References External links Historical overview of the First Knesset Knesset website en Factional and Government Make-Up of the First Knesset Knesset website en Legislative Legislative election Category:Legislative elections in Israel Israel Israel Category:1st Knesset (1949–1951) Category:David Ben-Gurion Category:Menachem Begin Category:Constituent assembly elections in Asia