1961 Israeli legislative election

Elections for the fifth Knesset 1959 1965 15 August 1961 81.57% ( 0.03 pp) Israel Mapai David Ben-Gurion 42 47 34.69 Herut Menachem Begin 17 17 13.76 Israeli Liberal Party Pinchas Rosen 17 14 13.63 National Religious Party Haim-Moshe Shapira 12 12 9.81 Mapam Meir Ya'ari 9 9 7.51 Ahdut HaAvoda Yisrael Galili 8 7 6.57 Maki (historical political party) Shmuel Mikunis 5 3 4.18 Agudat Yisrael Yitzhak-Meir Levin 4 3 3.69 Poalei Agudat Yisrael Kalman Kahana 2 3 1.93 Cooperation and Brotherhood Diyab Obeid 2 2 1.92 Progress and Development Ahmed A-Dahar 2 2 1.59 David Ben-Gurion Mapai David Ben-Gurion Mapai Prime Minister Elections for the fifth Knesset were held in Israel on 15 August 1961. 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 Parliament factions List of political parties in Israel The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 4th Knesset. Name Ideology Symbol Leader 1959 resultSeats at 1964dissolution Votes (%) Seats Mapai Social democracyLabor Zionism א David Ben-Gurion38.2% 47 120 Mapai47 120 Mapai Herut Revisionist Zionism ח Menachem Begin13.5% 17 120 Herut 17 120 Herut Liberal Party Liberalism ל Pinchas RosenPeretz Bernstein- 0 120 Israeli Liberal Party 14 120 Israeli Liberal Party National Religious Party Religious Zionism ב Haim-Moshe Shapira9.9% 12 120 National Religious Party12 120 National Religious Party Mapam Labor ZionismMarxism מ Meir Ya'ari7.2% 9 120 Mapam9 120 Mapam General Zionists Liberalism צ Yosef Sapir6.2% 8 120 General Zionists 0 120 General Zionists Ahdut HaAvoda Labor Zionism תו Yisrael Galili6.0% 7 120 Ahdut HaAvoda7 120 Ahdut HaAvoda Agudat Yisrael Religious conservatism ג Yitzhak-Meir Levin4.7%A Agudat Yisrael and PAI ran as a joint list called Religious Torah Front. 3 120 Agudat Yisrael3 120 Agudat Yisrael Poalei Agudat Yisrael Religious conservatism ד Kalman Kahana 3 120 Poalei Agudat Yisrael3 120 Poalei Agudat Yisrael Progressive Party LiberalismProgressivism פ Pinchas Rosen4.6% 6 120 Progressive Party (Israel) 0 120 Progressive Party (Israel) Maki Communism ק Shmuel Mikunis2.8% 3 120 Maki (historical political party)3 120 Maki (historical political party) Progress and Development Arab satellite list רא Ahmed A-Dahar1.3% 2 120 #C613182 120 #C61318 Cooperation and Brotherhood Arab satellite list יא Labib Hussein Abu Rokan1.1% 2 120 #C613182 120 #C61318 Agriculture and Development Arab satellite list ע Mahmud Al-Nashaf1.1% 1 120 #C613181 120 #C61318 Results File:1961 Knesset.svg Mapai 349330 42 −5 Herut 138599 17 0 Liberal Party 137255 17 +3 National Religious Party 98786 12 0 Mapam 75654 9 0 Ahdut HaAvoda 66170 8 +1 Maki 42111 5 +2 Agudat Yisrael 37178 4 0 Poalei Agudat Yisrael 19428 2 0 Cooperation and Brotherhood 19342 2 0 Progress and Development 16034 2 0 Progress and Work 3561 0 0 Religious Sephardim List 3181 0 New Supporters of Democracy 335 0 New 30066 0 1271285 IDI,IDI Nohlen et al. Aftermath List of members of the fifth Knesset During the Knesset term, eight MKs broke away from Mapai to establish Rafi and two MKs left Maki to establish Rakah. Herut and the Liberal Party merged to form Gahal. Seven Liberal Party members unhappy with the decision (largely former Progressive Party members) broke away to form the Independent Liberals. Tenth government Tenth government of Israel The fifth Knesset started with David Ben-Gurion's Mapai party forming the tenth government on 2 November 1961. His coalition included the National Religious Party, Ahdut HaAvoda, Agudat Israel Workers, Cooperation and Brotherhood and Progress and Development, and had 13 ministers. Kadish Luz of Mapai was appointed Knesset Speaker. The government collapsed when Ben-Gurion resigned on 16 June 1963 citing personal reasons, but in reality was annoyed at a perceived lack of support from his colleagues. He later broke away from Mapai with several colleagues to form Rafi. Eleventh government Eleventh government of Israel Levi Eshkol took over Mapai and formed the eleventh government on 26 June 1963 with the same coalition partners as previously, but one more minister. The government resigned on 10 December 1964 when Ben-Gurion demanded that members of the Supreme Court investigate the Lavon Affair. Twelfth government Twelfth government of Israel Eshkol formed the twelfth government a week later on 22 December 1964 with the same coalition partners and ministers as previously. The fifth Knesset was notable for the coalescing of the two major right-wing parties (Herut and the Liberal Party) to form an electoral block (Gahal) capable of threatening Mapai's hegemony in Israeli politics. Gahal, which by then had become Likud, finally overtook Mapai (which had merged into the Alignment) in the 1977 elections. Notes References External links Historical overview of the Fifth Knesset Knesset website Election results Knesset website The Fifth Knesset Knesset website Legislative Legislative election Category:Legislative elections in Israel Israel Israel Category:David Ben-Gurion Category:Menachem Begin