1999 Israeli general election

none October 2026 Israel presidential 17 May 1999 yes Prime ministerial election 1996 Israeli general election 1996 2001 Israeli prime ministerial election 2001 presidential 78.71% Ehud Barak 1999.jpg Ehud Barak One Israel 1,791,020 56.08% Benjamin Netanyahu 1996.jpg Benjamin Netanyahu Likud 1,402,474 43.92% Prime Minister Prime Minister after election Benjamin Netanyahu Likud Ehud Barak One Israel yes Knesset election 1996 2003 Ehud Barak One Israel 20.26 39 26 Benjamin Netanyahu Likud 14.14 24 19 Aryeh Deri Shas 13.01 10 17 Yossi Sarid Meretz 7.66 9 10 Natan Sharansky Yisrael BaAliyah 5.19 7 6 Tommy Lapid Shinui 5.07 2 6 Yitzhak Mordechai Centre Party 5.00 new 6 Yitzhak Levi National Religious Party 4.24 9 5 Meir Porush United Torah Judaism 3.80 4 5 Abdulmalik Dehamshe United Arab List 3.47 4 5 Benny Begin National Union (Israel) 3.03 2 4 Avigdor Lieberman Yisrael Beiteinu 2.60 new 4 Mohammad Barakeh Hadash 2.63 4 3 Azmi Bishara Balad (political party) 2.00 2 2 Amir Peretz One Nation 1.94 new 2 Dan Tichon Likud Avraham Burg One Israel Speaker of the Knesset 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. The elections were only the second time in Israeli history that the prime minister had been directly elected; the first such election in 1996 had been an extremely tight contest between Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud and Shimon Peres of Labor, with Netanyahu winning by just 29,000 votes. Labor leader Ehud Barak, promising peace talks with the Palestinians and withdrawal from Lebanon by July 2000,Barak calls early election The Guardian, 29 November 2000Israel's Withdrawal from Lebanon ADL was elected prime minister with 56% of the vote. Background October 2026 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 ended due to difficulties in passing the state budget and in January 1999 passed a bill calling for early elections.ISRAEL: parliamentary elections Knesset, 1999 http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2155_99.htm 10 May 2026 archive.ipu.org 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. Benny Begin, Michael Kleiner and David Re'em broke away from Likud over Benjamin Netanyahu's acceptance of the Wye River Memorandum and the Hebron Agreement, which had ceded land to the Palestinians. They formed a new party, Herut – The National Movement, which gained the tacit backing of former PM Yitzhak Shamir.Shamir, Opposing Netanyahu, Takes Further Turn to Right The New York Times 25 March 1999 https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/25/world/shamir-opposing-netanyahu-takes-further-turn-to-right.html 22 June 2015 At the same time, Hanan Porat and Zvi Hendel left the National Religious Party as they accepted these agreements as well, forming the Tkuma party. Tkuma and Herut joined the ultranationalist Moledet to create the National Union. Tzomet, Likud's other former partner, risked losing much of its voter base to the new alliance and tried to join, but its entry was denied. Parliament factions List of political parties in Israel The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 14th Knesset. Name Ideology Symbol Leader 1996 resultSeats at 1999dissolution Votes (%) Seats Labor (in One Israel) Social democracy אמת Ehud Barak26.8% 34 120 Israeli Labor Party29 120 Israeli Labor Party Likud National liberalism מחל Benjamin Netanyahu25.1% 24 120 Likud 19 120 Likud Gesher (in One Israel) Liberal conservatismEconomic egalitarianism - David Levy5 120 Gesher 3 120 Gesher Tzomet NationalismSecularism -Rafael Eitan3 120 Tzomet2 120 Tzomet Shas Religious conservatismPopulism שס Aryeh Deri8.5% 10 120 Shas10 120 Shas Mafdal Religious Zionism ב Yitzhak Levi7.9% 9 120 National Religious Party7 120 National Religious Party Meretz ProgressivismSecularism מרצ Yossi Sarid7.4% 9 120 Meretz6 120 Meretz Yisrael BaAliyah Russian speakers' interests כן Natan Sharansky5.7%7 120 Yisrael BaAliyah5 120 Yisrael BaAliyah UTJ Religious conservatism ג Avraham Yosef Shapira3.2% 4 120 United Torah Judaism4 120 United Torah Judaism Hadash CommunismSocialism ו Tawfiq Ziad4.2% 3 120 Hadash3 120 HadashBaladArab nationalismPan-ArabismדAzmi Bishara2 120 Balad (political party)2 120 Balad (political party) Third Way CentrismRetention of the Golan Heights הד Avigdor Kahalani3.2% 4 120 #36B3C43 120 #36B3C4 Ra'am-Mada Israeli Arab interests עם Abdulwahab Darawshe2.9% 4 120 #0099004 120 #009900 Moledet(in National Union) Ultranationalism ט Rehavam Ze'evi2.4% 2 120 #0000803 120 #000080Centre PartyCentrismפהYitzhak Mordechai - did not exist5 120 Center Party (Israel) Shinui SecularismLiberalism יש Tommy Lapid - part of MeretzShinui won 2 seats in 1996 as part of Meretz.3 120 ShinuiHerut – The National Movement(in National Union)Right-wing populismNational conservatism -Benny Begin - did not exist3 120 National Union (Israel) One Nation Social democracyTrade union interests ם Amir Peretz - did not exist3 120 One Nation (Israel)Tkuma(in National Union)Religious ZionismHanan Porat - did not exist2 120 Religious Zionist PartyYisrael HaMithadeshet(in Yisrael Beiteinu)Russian Israeli interests -Michael Nudelman - did not exist2 120 Yisrael Beiteinu IndependentDavid Zucker, who left Meretz, and Emanuel Zisman, who left the Third Way.2 120 #CCCCCC 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. Mordechai did not withdraw until two days before the election, after he and his party had run a series of advertisements.Peretz Don Doron Gideon 2000 Sectarian Politics and the Peace Process: The 1999 Israel Elections https://www.jstor.org/stable/4329472 Middle East Journal 54 2 259–273 0026-3141 Two parties, Manhigut Yehudit and Voice of the Environment, initially signed up to participate in the elections, but withdrew their candidacy before election day. Both Meretz and Yisrael BaAliyah stressed the need to overtake Shas so that its influence on the next government would be limited. Meretz did this because of Shas's participation in Netanyahu's government, while Yisrael BaAliyah, who was also in that government, was against Shas for obstructing the citizenship process for arrivals of the 1990s post-Soviet aliyah. Yisrael BaAliyah demanded that they be given the Ministry of Interior (which oversees the citizenship process) as a pre-requisite of joining a government coalition, which Ehud Barak fulfilled after becoming prime minister. Shas campaigned on resolving economic injustices towards the Mizrahi community, and protested the perceived 'excessive rights' given to Soviet migrants. Meretz specifically attacked Shas by saying it would serve Netanyahu's needs whether it be in a left-wing or right-wing coalition, and criticised One Nation, the Greens, the Pnina Rosenblum list and Shinui for being 'one-issue parties' that siphoned off votes that Meretz needed to beat Shas.מי תהיה המפלגה השלישית - מרצ או ש"ס? אתם תחליטו. http://youtube.com/watch?v=E5rTC6GYgZY&t=2867s 29 December 2025 Furthermore, Meretz highlighted the need to reform marriage law and improve the situation of tenants. Mafdal campaigned on returning 'traditional values' to Israel and attacked Meretz for wanting 'freedom from Judaism'. Hadash's affiliated newspaper, Al-Ittihad, published articles showing outright hostility towards Balad for 'burning' votes in the local elections in Nazareth, causing Ra'am to gain power. These articles made the (incorrect) prediction that Balad had no chance of making it to the next Knesset, pointing out how its predecessor, the Progressive List for Peace failed to cross the threshold in the 1992 elections.I will not burn my vote twice https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/alittihad/1999/05/12/01/article/96.3/?e=01-05-1999-17-05-1999--en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxTI--------------1 18 March 2026 Al-Ittihad 12 May 1999 Endorsements by parties CandidatePartyOther parties supportingNetanyahuLikudShasUTJYisrael BeiteinuBarakOne IsraelMeretz Party 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 translationLikud"לא נתפשר על בטחון ישראל - הליכוד, מנהיגות חזקה"“We will not compromise on Israel's security - Likud, strong leadership”One Israel"אין שלום אין בטחון – ביבי כשלון""There is no peace, there is no security, Bibi is a failure"Mafdal"נותנים את הנשמה למדינה""Giving one's soul to the country"Meretz"מרצ - להיות חופשי בארצנו"This is a direct reference to a line in Israel's national anthem, Hatikvah."Meretz - to be free in our country""מי תהיה המפלגה השלישית - מרצ או ש"ס? אתם תחליטו""Which party will finish in third — Meretz or Shas? You decide."UTJ"בלי תורה- אין שלום, אין ביטחון""Without a Torah, there is no peace, there is no security"Hadash"אתם רואים טוב!""You're seeing this correctly!""عندك نظرة!""הכי רחוק מנתניהו""The furthest away from Netanyahu"Shinui"יש לפיד לחילונים""There is a torch [Lapid] for secularists"Yisrael BaAliyahru "МВД под ШАС контроль? Нет, МВД под наш контроль.""The Ministry of Interior under Shas' control? No, the Ministry of Interior under our control.ru "МВД под наш контроль - и жильё под наш контроль""The Ministry of Interior under our control, and [the Ministry of] Housing under our control [as well].Center Party"ישראל צריכה מרכז חזק""Israel needs a strong center"National Union"יש עם מי - האיחוד הלאומי""There is someone to rely on - the National Union"Yisrael Beiteinu"ליברמן- מילה זאת מילה""Lieberman - a word is a word"One Nation"עובדים עם כל הכוח""Working with all our might"The Third Way"אנחנו כאן בגלל הגולן""We are here because of the Golan Heights" Debates DateOrganizerModerator black #90FF90  P  Present   black #CCFFCC  I  Invitee black #FFD0D0  N  Non-invitee LikudCenter PartyRefsMashal HamPBenjamin NetanyahuPYitzhak Mordechaihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdxWNQqU_Vc ערוץ 2: עימות הבחירות נתניהו-מרדכי, 13.04.1999 YouTube 13 April 2022 Electoral system The 120 seats in the Knesset are elected by closed list proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency. The electoral threshold for the election was 1.5%. This implied that a party with this total would win 2 seats. Surplus-vote agreements Two party lists can sign a surplus-vote agreement that allows them to compete for leftover seats as though they are running together on the same list. The Bader–Ofer method disproportionately favors larger lists, meaning that such an alliance is more likely to receive leftover seats than both of its comprising lists would be individually. The agreement requires both parties to cross the threshold for the agreement to activate. If the alliance receives leftover seats, the Bader–Ofer calculation is then applied afterwards between the two, to determine how the seats are divided among the two allied lists.The Distribution of Knesset Seats Among the Lists – the Bader-Offer Method, Knesset website The following agreements were signed by parties prior to the election:19 May 1999 רשומות - ילקוט הפרסומים https://free-justice.openapi.gov.il/free/moj/portal/rest/searchpredefinedapi/v1/SearchPredefinedApi/Documents/ZsbCBsbXt3FH2BHfVd6pZ1xn3BXhkokCdV32f4WZV0Y= רשומות - ילקוט הפרסומים Elections in IsraelD'Hondt method One Israel – Meretz Likud – Mafdal Hadash – Ra'am UTJ – Shas Yisrael BaAliyah – National Union One Nation – Yisrael Beiteinu Pnina Rosenblum – Power for Pensioners Shinui – Greens Centre Party – Third Way Results Prime minister Ehud Barak One Israel 1791020 #30ABEC Benjamin Netanyahu Likud 1402474 179458 4285428 Nohlen et al. Knesset File:15th Knesset Composition.svg One Israel 670484 26 −11 Likud 468103 19 −8 Shas 430676 17 +7 Meretz 253525 10 +1 Yisrael BaAliyah 171705 6 −1 Shinui 167748 6 NewShinui gained 4 seats in comparison to 1996, when they were part of Meretz. Centre Party 165622 6 New National Religious Party 140307 5 −4 United Torah Judaism 125741 5 +1 United Arab List 114810 5 −1 National Union 100181 4 +2The National Union gained 2 seats in comparison to Moledet, its only then-extant member party in 1996. Hadash 87022 3 −1 Yisrael Beiteinu 86153 4 New Balad 66103 2 +1 One Nation 64143 2 New Pnina Rosenblum 44953 0 New Power for Pensioners he כח לגמלאים 37525 0 New Ale Yarok 34029 0 New The Third Way 26290 0 –4 #36B3C4 Green Party 13292 0 New Tikva 7366 0 New Casino Party 6540 0 New Lev LaOlim 6311 0 New Negev Party 4324 0 New Tzomet 4128 0 −5 Natural Law Party 2924 0 New Progressive Center Party 2797 0 New Da'am Workers Party 2151 0 0 New Arab Party 2042 0 New Justice for All 1257 0 New Moreshet Avot 1164 0 New 64332 0 4285428 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 List of members of the fifteenth 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 broke up the Balad-Ta'al alliance and sat in a separate Ta'al faction. See also 1999 Israeli Labor Party primary Party lists for the 1999 Israeli general election Notes References External links Historical overview of the Fifteenth Knesset Knesset website en Election results Knesset website Documentary about the election by KAN [VPN needed with an Israeli IP address] Legislative Legislative election Category:Legislative elections in Israel Category:Israeli prime ministerial elections Israeli general election Israel Israel 1999 Category:Benjamin Netanyahu Category:Ehud Barak Category:Avigdor Lieberman