1992 Israeli legislative election

none yes 1988 1996 23 June 1992 Israel 77.38% Israeli Labor Party Yitzhak Rabin 44 39 34.65 Likud Yitzhak Shamir 32 40 24.89 Meretz Shulamit Aloni 12 10 9.58 Tzomet Rafael Eitan 8 2 6.36 National Religious Party Zevulun Hammer 6 5 4.95 Shas Aryeh Deri 6 6 4.94 United Torah Judaism Avraham Yosef Shapira 4 7 3.29 Hadash Tawfiq Ziad 3 4 2.39 Moledet Rehavam Ze'evi 3 2 2.38 Arab Democratic Party (Israel) Abdulwahab Darawshe 2 1 1.56 Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir Likud Yitzhak Rabin Labor Party Elections for the 13th Knesset were held in Israel on 23 June 1992. The election resulted in the formation of a Labor government, led by Yitzhak Rabin, helped by the failure of several small right wing parties to pass the electoral threshold."The 1992 Knesset Elections Revisited" Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Voter turnout was 77%.Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p. 128 0-19-924958-X Background The First Intifada, which began in 1987 and impacted the outcome of the 1988 election, had not ended by 1992. In 1990, Labor's Shimon Peres tried to piece together a left-wing government against the Likud, which was known as the dirty trick. However, Agudat Yisrael bailed on the deal, and Peres's plan collapsed. He resigned from Labor leadership, and was replaced with former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The breakout of the Gulf War had major ramifications for Israeli politics. Iraqi strikes on Israel in early 1991 killed 76 Israelis, and blame was placed onto the Likud for a poor response. While Iraq's leader Saddam Hussein had hoped Israel would retaliate and get Middle Eastern countries to support Iraq in the war, Jordan and the United States convinced Israel not to strike back. This had the effect of making the Likud look weak on defence issues. The Gulf War also led to the further fragmentation of the left-wing Progressive List for Peace, as its Jewish members left over the party's support for Hussein's regime. Rabin's Labour became more popular for its strong defence policy, which convinced Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to attempt negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization at the Madrid Conference of 1991. This was unpopular with right-wing voters, many of whom flocked to the radical-right Tzomet party, which withdrew from Shamir's government due to the conference.https://www.knesset.gov.il/review/ReviewPage2.aspx?kns=12&lng=3 Twelfth Knesset Knesset 21 June 2015 In October 1991, the electoral threshold was raised from 1% to 1.5%. This was the first reform to the threshold since 1949. Previous proposals to raise it to 4% in the 1950s and the 1960s failed due to the protests of smaller parties.Knesset Election Law 1991 https://www.knesset.gov.il/maintenance-page-geo dead 2026-04-07 www.knesset.gov.il10 January 1954 General details of Mapai's agreement https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/mar/1954/01/10/01/article/9?&dliv=none&e=-------he-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxTI--------------1 Ma'ariv This time, smaller parties, including Mafdal and Tehiya were supportive of raising the threshold. The downfall of the Soviet Union in December 1991 accelerated the aliyah of its Jewish population. From 1989 to 1991, over 340,000 Soviet Jews moved to Israel. Due to the Aliyah law, all Jewish immigrants to Israel are granted immediate citizenship and the right to vote. Initial polls predicted they would vote for Likud and other right-wing parties, due to their perceived dislike for socialism.Reich Bernard Dropkin Noah Wurmser Meyrav 1993 Soviet Jewish Immigration and the 1992 Israeli Knesset Elections https://www.jstor.org/stable/4328605 Middle East Journal 47 3 464–478 0026-3141 A late 1990 PORI poll showed that 78% of Soviet Israelis surveyed would vote for a right-wing party.Reich Bernard 1991 The Impact of the Soviet Jewish Vote on the Israeli Knesset Election https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA248185.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20250202085734/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA248185.pdf 2025-02-02 2026-04-07 apps.dtic.mil However, their votes began to shift away from the right, as they shared the general dissatisfaction for the Likud. Parliament factions List of political parties in Israel The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 12th Knesset. Name Ideology Symbol Leader 1988 resultSeats at 1992dissolution Votes (%) Seats Likud National liberalism מחל Yitzhak Shamir31.1% 40 120 Likud 38 120 Likud LaborLabor The Israeli Labor Party faction was originally the Alignment faction, but by the time of the 1988 elections, the Alignment electoral alliance had no other member parties other than Labor itself. The parliamentary faction was renamed to reflect this on 7 October 1991. Social democracy אמת Yitzhak Rabin30.0% 39 120 Alignment (Israel)38 120 Israeli Labor Party Meretz ProgressivismSecularism —Meretz symbol Would use מרצ as its symbol in the 1992 elections Shulamit AloniYair TzabanAmnon Rubinstein— did not existMeretz On 9 March 1992, Ratz, Mapam, and Shinui agreed to run on a common list in the 1992 elections. To ensure this, their respective parliamentary factions all merged into one on the same day.10 120 Meretz Shas Religious conservatismPopulism שס Aryeh Deri4.7% 6 120 Shas5 120 Shas Agudat Yisrael Religious conservatism ג Moshe Ze'ev Feldman4.5% 5 120 Agudat Yisrael4 120 Agudat Yisrael Ratz ProgressivismSecularism רצ Shulamit Aloni4.3% 5 120 #C80004no longer existedMeretz Mafdal Religious Zionism ב Avner Shaki3.9% 5 120 National Religious Party5 120 National Religious Party Hadash CommunismSocialism ו Meir Vilner3.7% 4 120 Hadash4 120 Hadash Tehiya UltranationalismRevisionist Zionism ת Yuval Ne'emanGeula Cohen3.1% 3 120 Tehiya3 120 Tehiya Mapam Labor ZionismDemocratic socialism מפם Yair Tzaban2.5% 3 120 Mapamno longer existedMeretz New Liberal Party Liberalism —NLP symbol Would use קן as its symbol in the 1992 elections Yitzhak Moda'i— did not existNLP The New Liberal Party was formed on 15 March 1990 by five Likud defectors, formerly members of the (old) Liberal Party, who were dissatisifed with the Likud's transformation from an electoral alliance between Herut and the Liberal Party into a unitary party. Two of them, Yosef Goldberg and Avraham Sharir, later defected back to the Likud.3 120 #2FA1CE Tzomet National conservatismAgrarianism ץ Rafael Eitan2.0% 2 120 Tzomet2 120 Tzomet Moledet Ultranationalism ט Rehavam Ze'evi1.9% 2 120 #0000802 120 #000080 Shinui LiberalismCentrism הן Amnon Rubinstein1.7% 2 120 Shinuino longer existedMeretz Degel HaTorah Religious conservatism עץ Avraham Ravitz1.5% 2 120 Degel HaTorah2 120 Degel HaTorah PLFP Palestinian nationalismHaidar Aziz The Nationalist Progressive Movement 2018 Mada al-Carmel 2018 Sabbagh-Khoury Areej The Palestinians in Israel Readings in History, Politics and Society 2 פ Mohammed Miari1.5% 1 120 #9CB0711 120 #9CB071 Mada Arab interests עם Abdulwahab Darawshe1.2% 1 120 #0099001 120 #009900 Moria Ultra-Orthodox interest — Yitzhak Peretz— did not existMoria Yitzhak Peretz was elected as an MK for Shas, but defected to form his own faction on 25 December 1990. In the 1992 elections, he ran on the Agudat Yisrael list.1 120 #000000 Geulat Yisrael Mizrahi ultra-Orthodox interest —Geulat Yisrael symbol Would use קל as its symbol in the 1992 elections Eliezer Mizrahi— did not existGeulat Yisrael Eliezer Mizrahi was elected as an MK for Agudat Yisrael, but defected to form his own faction in 1990.1 120 #E08C35 Campaign period Campaign slogans Party or allianceOriginal sloganסיסמאות בפוליטיקה הישראלית https://he.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%91%D7%A4%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%98%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%94_%D7%94%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%AA 28 December 2025 Hebrew WikiquoteEnglish translation Likud"הליכוד-זה נכון!""Likud - that's right!"Labor"ישראל מחכה לרבין""Israel is waiting for Rabin"Meretz"ממשלה עם מרצ, הכוח לעשות את השינוי.""A government with Meretz [vigor], the power to make the change [Shinui]"Mafdal"המפד"ל לימינך""Mafdal stands by you [lit. to your right]"UTJ"כולנו עם ג'""We are all with ballot Gimel"Hadash"שמאל זה חד"ש""The left is Hadash"Tzomet"ישראל בטוחה בצומת""Israel is safe with Tzomet"Tehiya"התחייה-יש ימין אמין!""Tehiya - there is a reliable right!" Opinion polls The Israel Broadcasting Authority separated the parties into two blocs: Left-wing: Jewish: Alignment, Meretz (Ratz, Mapam, Shinui) Arab: Hadash, PLP, Mada Right-wing: Secular: Likud, Tehiya, Tzomet, Moledet Religious: UTJ, Shas, Degel HaTorah Seat projections Note: Political blocs do not necessarily determine the exact makeup of post-election coalitions. DatePoll clientLikudAlignment/LaborMeretzTehiyaTzometMoledetHadashPLPMadaShasMafdalUTJOthersLeadLeftRightLeadRatzMapamShinuiAgudat YisraelDegel Final results32441208330266401261592Exit poll on Channel 13347130632025540146456819 June 1992Hadashot19 June 1992 Survey summary table https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/hadashot/1992/06/19/01/article/106/?srpos=36&e=-------en-20--21-byDA.rev-img-txIN%7CtxTI-%D7%A1%D7%A7%D7%A8++AND+%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%93-------------1 Hadashot3840113546445025763614 June 1992Hadashot364111454644405586248 June 1992Hadashot12 June 1992 The pendulum is swinging to the right https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/hadashot/1992/06/12/01/article/92/?srpos=7&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxTI-%D7%A1%D7%A7%D7%A8++AND+%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%93-------------1 Hadashot34431111615096060Tie1 June 1992Hadashot334510443645601261592'mid-late' May 1992Hadashot5 June 1992 Polls - the gap is closing Hadashot354293456457175762515 May 1992Hadashot324691161401463576'early' May 1992Hadashot33439363654711058613'late' April 1992Hadashot31469354654601561592February 1992Hadashot13 March 1992 Polls https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/hadashot/1992/03/13/01/article/19/?srpos=11&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxTI-%22%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%9C+%D7%94%D7%93%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%98%D7%99%D7%AA%22----1992---------1 Hadashot353615444645520157636January 1992Hadashot3532153556566203536714November 1991Hadashot442915443644610155070204-12 November 199114 November 1992 Low public support for the Labor Party https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/mar/1991/11/15/01/article/34/?srpos=1&e=01-11-1991-30-11-1991--en-20--1-byDA.rev-img-txIN%7CtxTI-%D7%A1%D7%A7%D7%A8++AND+%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%93----1991---------1# HadashotSmith Research InstituteIntentions given in percentages. Only Jewish voters were surveyed, and the calculation of seats assumes the Arab turnout and vote pattern was the same as 1988,https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/hadashot/1992/06/19/01/article/178/?srpos=10&e=-------he-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxTI-%D7%A1%D7%A7%D7%A8+%D7%91%D7%97%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA+AND+%D7%9E%D7%A4%22%D7%9D%E2%80%8E-------------1 חדשות, מספר 2529, 19 יוני 1992 he Hadashot, Issue No. 2529, June 19, 1992 www.nli.org.il and that surplus vote agreements were signed between Labor and Ratz-Mapam, with those two constituting an internal surplus agremeent, Likud and Tzomet, and Tehiya and Moledet, the latter two being the cases in the election. This calculation assumes that Arab turnout equates to 10% of all votes, as was the case in 1988, and asides from the results indicated in the poll, Hadash would win 5 seats thanks to Arab voters, Labor and the PLP 2 each, and Ratz and Likud 1 each. It also assumes that Mada wins 1.01% of votes and fails to cross the threshold.412692N/A344521N/AN/AN/AN/A2314N/AN/AN/A6 September 19916 September 1991 Right rose by 44% https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/hadashot/1991/09/06/01/article/10/?srpos=9&e=-------en-20--1-byDA.rev-img-txIN%7CtxTI-%D7%A1%D7%A7%D7%A8++AND+%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%AA%E2%80%8E----1991---------1 HadashotSmith Research Institute4129923445N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A2312N/AN/AN/AAugust 1991Hadashot383312445655620551691831 July 1991Ma'ariv31 July 1991 Losses for Likud and Labor https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/mar/1991/07/31/01/article/38/?srpos=10&e=-------en-20--1-byDA.rev-img-txIN%7CtxTI-%D7%A1%D7%A7%D7%A8++AND+%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%AA%E2%80%8E----1991---------1 Ma'ariv32301011N/AN/AN/A1692N/AN/AN/AJanuary 1990Hadashot14 January 1990 Surveys https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/hadashot/1990/01/14/01/article/3/?srpos=3&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxTI-%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%93+AND+%D7%A1%D7%A7%D7%A8----1990---------1 Hadashot38337415346656205516918December 1989Hadashot39347415346555205526816November 1989Hadashot40327414456555208507020Outgoing Knesset383810322411554220566461988 results403953232241165520556646 Results thumb|right|The Labor Party chairman Yitzhak Rabin. After winning the 1992 elections, Rabin managed to form the first Labor-led government in 6 years, supported by a coalition with Meretz, a left-wing party, and Shas, a Mizrahi ultra-orthodox religious party. File:Knesset_1992.svg Labor Party 906810 44 +5 Likud 651229 32 −8 Meretz 250667 12 +2 Tzomet 166366 8 +6 National Religious Party 129663 6 +1 Shas 129347 6 0 United Torah Judaism 86167 4 −3 Hadash 62546 3 −1 Moledet 62269 3 +1 Arab Democratic Party 40788 2 +1 Tehiya 31957 0 −3 Progressive List for Peace 24181 0 −1 New Liberal Party 16669 0 New #2FA1CE Geulat Yisrael 12851 0 New #E08C35 Da 11697 0 New Pensioners, Immigrants and Senior Citizens 8327 0 New Movement of Mortgage Victims, the Homeless and Veterans 5962 0 0 Pikanti 3750 0 New Torah VeAretz 3708 0 New On Wheels 3355 0 New Women's Party 2886 0 New Hatikva orange 2053 0 New Natural Law Party Natural Law Party 1734 0 New Tali 1336 0 New Tzipor 523 0 New 21102 0 3409015 IDI, Nohlen et al. Aftermath List of members of the thirteenth Knesset Labor's Yitzhak Rabin formed the twenty-fifth government on 13 July 1992, including Meretz and Shas in his coalition, which had 17 ministers. Hadash and the Arab Democratic Party also supported the government despite not being coalition members. Shas left the coalition in September 1993, and Yiud joined in January 1995. Coverage of the election night dubbed Labor's victory another 'Mahapach' (he מהפך, upheaval), a term used to describe the Likud's first victory in 1977. The election marked a new age in Israeli politics in other senses. Political parties that had been mainstays in the Knesset in the 1980s were eliminated and subsequently disappeared. The Progressive List for Peace suffered a second mass exodus of members after 1992, with some eventually forming the Balad party. Tehiya, who were riding a polling surge in the mid-1980s, blamed its loss on 'personality-driven' parties on the right, with the leader Geulah Cohen singling out Tehiya's former ally Tzomet.24 June 1992 MK Neeman: Today we are paying https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/hadashot/1992/06/24/01/article/25/?e=01-01-1992-31-12-1992--en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxTI-+%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%A6+%E2%80%8E+AND+%D7%A1%D7%A7%D7%A8-------------1 Hadashot Tehiya would have won a seat if the election threshold was not raised to 1.5%, a policy that the party ironically supported.Knesset Election Law 1991 https://www.knesset.gov.il/maintenance-page-geo dead 2026-04-07 www.knesset.gov.il The party disappeared. Tzomet had a brief period of success, with its leader Rafael "Raful" Eitan claiming he was ready to negotiate with both left and right blocs, due to his party's ideologies of both secularism (which had been Meretz's main campaign point) and nationalism.Barzilai Amnon 24 June 1992 Don't rule out a broad coalition https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/hadashot/1992/06/24/01/article/28/?e=23-06-1992-01-07-1992--en-20--1-byDA.rev-img-txIN%7CtxTI--------Arabic%2CHebrew------1 Hadashot His image as a veteran was well respected,Sandler Shmuel Israel at the polls, 1992 1995 Rowman & Littlefield 87-88 but the MKs he brought with him were inexperienced and did not follow his party line, with many raising allegations that Raful was behaving 'tyrannically'. By the end of the Knesset term, Tzomet only had two MKs out of its original eight.http://knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionHistoryAll_eng.asp Mergers and Splits Among Parliamentary Groups Knesset 21 June 2015 The Knesset term saw several defections; two MKs left the Labor Party to establish the Third Way, whilst Nava Arad also left the party. Two MKs left Likud to establish Gesher, whilst Efraim Gur also left the party. Three MKs left Tzomet to establish Yiud; one MK then left Yiud to establish Atid. Yosef Azran left Shas. One MK left Moledet to establish Yamin Yisrael, whilst Yosef Ba-Gad also left the party to sit as in independent. United Torah Judaism split into Agudat Yisrael (two seats) and Degel HaTorah (two seats), but it would reunify in time for the next election. Rabin's government advanced the peace process to unprecedented levels; the Oslo Accords were signed with Yasser Arafat's PLO in 1993 and the Israel–Jordan peace treaty in 1994. The government's willingness to make peace with Syria and concede the Golan Heights led to Avigdor Kahalani and Emanuel Zisman leaving the party to form the Third Way. The government also continued sweeping reforms of the previously socialised economy, which had been set up by Labour's forerunners. Measures were enacted to privatise more public assets and to attract foreign capital. Meanwhile, a new national health insurance was introduced, ending the old Histadrut-dominated insurance system. Healthcare and education spending were increased.Asa-El Amotz 4 November 2015 Yitzhak Rabin's little-known economic legacy http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yitzhak-rabins-little-known-economic-legacy-2015-10-2930 August 2015 Be Careful What You Privatize https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/watch-what-you-privatize-1.5392904 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20180905215032/https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/watch-what-you-privatize-1.5392904 5 September 2018 Haaretz26 September 2001 The Bottom Line / When the Horses Are Far, Far Away https://www.haaretz.com/1.5410499 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20180905215037/https://www.haaretz.com/1.5410499 5 September 2018 Haaretz23 December 2015 Silicon Israel https://www.city-journal.org/html/silicon-israel-13208.html After Rabin's assassination on 4 November 1995, Shimon Peres took over as Prime Minister and formed a new government on 22 November 1995. His coalition was the same as before; Labor, Meretz and Yiud. Peres called early elections in 1996 in order to seek a mandate to continue the peace process,"Memory of Rabin likely to influence Israeli elections" CNN, 5 February 1996 in which he lost. See also Party lists for the 1992 Israeli legislative election 1992 Israeli Labor Party leadership election 1992 Israeli Labor Party primary 1992 Likud leadership election Notes References External links Historical overview of the Thirteenth Knesset Knesset website Election results Knesset website Israeli legislative Legislative election Category:Legislative elections in Israel Israel Israel Category:Yitzhak Rabin Category:Yitzhak Shamir