1996 Israeli general election

none Israel 1992 Israeli legislative election 1992 29 May 1996 1999 Israeli general election 1999 yes Prime ministerial election Benjamin Netanyahu 1996 (cropped).jpg Benjamin Netanyahu Likud 1,501,023 50.50% Meeting between PM Peres with newly elected PM Nethanyahu, 1996 Dan Hadani Archive II.jpg Shimon Peres Israeli Labor Party 1,471,566 49.50% Prime Minister Prime Minister after election Shimon Peres Labor Party Benjamin Netanyahu Likud yes Knesset election Shimon Peres Israeli Labor Party 26.83 44 34 Benjamin Netanyahu Likud–Gesher–Tzomet Likud 25.14 40 32 Aryeh Deri Shas 8.51 6 10 Zevulun Hammer National Religious Party 7.87 6 9 Yossi Sarid Meretz 7.41 12 9 Natan Sharansky Yisrael BaAliyah 5.73 new 7 Hashem Mahameed Hadash–Balad 4.24 3 5 Meir Porush United Torah Judaism 3.23 4 4 Avigdor Kahalani Third Way #36B3C4 3.16 new 4 Abdulmalik Dehamshe Ra'am–Mada 2.93 2 4 Rehavam Ze'evi Moledet 2.36 3 2 Shevah Weiss Israeli Labor Party Dan Tichon Likud Speaker of the Knesset General elections were held in Israel on 29 May 1996. For the first time, the prime minister was elected on a separate ballot from the remaining members of the Knesset. The elections for prime minister resulted in a surprise victory for Benjamin Netanyahu, by a margin of 29,457 votes, less than 1% of the total number of votes cast, and much smaller than the number of spoiled votes. This came after the initial exit polls had predicted a Shimon Peres win,At the Crossroads https://web.archive.org/web/20121107233551/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/netanyahu2_election_5-30.html 2012-11-07 PBS, 30 May 1996 spawning the phrase "went to sleep with Peres, woke up with Netanyahu".ראש הממשלה נתניהו. זוכרים? http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART/977/618.html 2022-11-06 Maariv nrg Although Peres lost the prime ministerial vote – his fourth and last defeat as Labor leader – Labor emerged as the largest party in the Knesset, winning two more seats than the Likud–Gesher–Tzomet alliance. Background Peace process Oslo Accords Israel–Jordan peace treaty thumb|230px|Yitzhak Rabin, Bill Clinton, and Yasser Arafat during the Oslo Accords on 13 September 1993 On 13 September 1993, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed the Oslo Accords (a Declaration of Principles)Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements https://web.archive.org/web/20170302173924/http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Peace/dop.html 2017-03-02 Jewish Virtual Library on the South Lawn of the White House. The principles established objectives relating to a transfer of authority from Israel to an interim Palestinian authority, as a prelude to a final treaty establishing a Palestinian state. On 25 July 1994, Jordan and Israel signed the Washington Declaration, which formally ended the state of war that had existed between them since 1948 and on 26 October the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, witnessed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.Main Points of Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty October 26, 1994 Israeli Ministry of Foreign AffairsTreaty of Peace between The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and The State of Israel King Hussein website Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat signed the Israeli–Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on 28 September 1995, in Washington. The agreement allowed the PLO leadership to relocate to the West Bank and Gaza Strip and granted autonomy to the Palestinians with talks to follow regarding final status. In return the Palestinians promised to abstain from use of terror and changed the Palestinian National Covenant, which had called for the expulsion of all Jews who migrated after 1917 and the elimination of Israel.http://www.mideastweb.org/plocha.htm accessed January 2010 2012-01-30 2015-10-07 https://web.archive.org/web/20151007042351/http://www.mideastweb.org/plocha.htm dead Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin On 4 November 1995, at the end of a rally in support of the Oslo agreements held in the center of Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated. The murderer, Yigal Amir, a right-wing Jewish radical, was a law student at the Bar-Ilan University who fanatically opposed the Prime Minister's peace initiative, particularly the signing of the Oslo Accords. The assassination of Rabin was a shock to the Israeli public. Approximately 80 heads of state attended Rabin's funeral in Jerusalem. Palestinian terror campaign between February–March 1996 Jaffa Road bus bombings Dizengoff Center suicide bombing South Lebanon conflict South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000) Operation Grapes of Wrath Parliament factions List of political parties in Israel The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 13th Knesset. Name Ideology Symbol Leader 1992 resultSeats at 1996dissolution Votes (%) Seats Labor Social democracy אמת Shimon Peres34.7% 44 120 Israeli Labor Party42 120 Israeli Labor Party Likud National liberalism מחל Benjamin Netanyahu24.9% 32 120 Likud 30 120 Likud Meretz ProgressivismSecularism מרצ Yossi Sarid9.6% 12 120 Meretz12 120 Meretz Tzomet NationalismSecularism ץ Rafael Eitan6.4% 8 120 Tzomet5 120 Tzomet Mafdal Religious Zionism ב Zvulun Hammer5.0% 6 120 National Religious Party6 120 National Religious Party Shas Religious conservatismPopulism שס Aryeh Deri4.9% 6 120 Shas5 120 Shas UTJ Religious conservatism ג Avraham Yosef Shapira3.3% 4 120 United Torah Judaism4 120 United Torah Judaism Hadash CommunismSocialism ו Tawfiq Ziad2.4% 3 120 Hadash3 120 Hadash Moledet Ultranationalism ט Rehavam Ze'evi2.4% 3 120 #0000801 120 #000080 Mada Israeli Arab Interests עם Abdulwahab Darawshe1.6% 2 120 #0099002 120 #009900 Third Way CentrismLiberalism הד Avigdor Kahalani- 0 120 #36B3C42 120 #36B3C4 Gesher Liberal conservatismEconomic egalitarianism - David Levy- 0 120 Gesher 2 120 Gesher Atid Liberalism - Alex Goldfarb- 0 120 #ddddEE 2 120 #ddddEEYiudLiberalism -Gonen Segev0 120 #49A1D81 120 #49A1D8Yamin YisraelUltranationalism Shaul Gutman0 120 #bba1041 120 #bba104 -IndependentEfraim Gur, who left the Likud, Yosef Azran, who left Shas, and Yosef Ba-Gad, who left Moledet.3 120 #CCCCCC Campaign thumb|Election posters for Likud and the Labor Party After taking over from Yitzhak Rabin, following his assassination, Peres decided to call early elections, in order to give the government a mandate to advance the peace process.Israeli elections will test support for peace CNN, 11 February 1996 King Hussein of Jordan's popularity in Israel had peaked after the Israel-Jordan peace treaty was signed, and he was expected to express support for a candidate. Shlaim Avi Avi Shlaim Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace 2009 Vintage Books 978-1400078288 https://books.google.com/books?id=JtrCoUf7wCsC 547–560 Hussein initially remained neutral, but later expressed support for Netanyahu.Shlaim 2009 547–560 Efraim Halevy, then head of the Israeli intelligence agency (Mossad), said that Hussein had preferred Netanyahu over Peres, as he had deeply mistrusted the latter.Halevy Efraim https://books.google.com/books?id=DHnwcb9pr3UC Man in the Shadows: Inside the Middle East Crisis with a Man Who Led the Mossad St. Martin's Publishing Group 2007 9781429904988 89 During the campaign, US president Bill Clinton attempted to influence the results of the election in favor of Peres, saying that, "I tried to do it in a way that didn't overtly involve me", because Peres was "more supportive of the peace process".https://www.timesofisrael.com/bill-clinton-admits-he-tried-to-help-peres-beat-netanyahu-in-1996-elections/ Bill Clinton admits he tried to help Peres beat Netanyahu in 1996 elections The Times of Israel Netanyahu's campaign was helped by Australian mining magnate Joseph Gutnick, who donated over $1 million to Likud. Nevertheless, Labor and Peres were comfortably ahead in the polls early in 1996, holding a lead of 20%. However, the country was hit by a spate of suicide attacks by Hamas, including the Jerusalem bus 18 massacres and other attacks in Ashkelon and the Dizengoff Center, which killed 59 people and severely damaged Peres' election chances.Suicide bombings scar Peres' political ambitions CNN, May 28, 1996 Polls taken in mid-May showed Peres ahead by just 4-6%,Pivotal Elections: Candidates CNN, 1996 whilst two days before the election, his lead was down to 2%.Israeli election is a dead heat CNN, 28 May 1996 Several leading Haredi ("ultra-Orthodox") rabbis, including Elazar Shach, called on their followers to vote for Netanyahu,Israeli race for prime minister narrows CNN, 27 May 1996 whilst Leah Rabin, Yitzhak's widow, called on Israelis to vote for Peres, so that her husband's death "would not be in vain".Rabin's widow tells Israelis: Vote for Peres CNN, 30 May 1996 Netanyahu also warned that a Peres victory would lead to the division of Jerusalem in a final peace deal with the Palestinians. Despite the national trauma which the assassination of Rabin caused, and although many blamed at the time the leaders of Israel's political right for the incitement that preceded the assassination, due to the series of suicide bombings carried out in Israel, and the failed military operation "Grapes of Wrath" conducted in Lebanon that caused many Lebanese civilian casualties, a significant change occurred in the position of the Israeli voters, which eventually resulted in 50.5 percent of voters supporting Netanyahu on election day. A significant number of Israeli Arabs boycotted the elections amidst rising Lebanese casualties, which became an advantage for Netanyahu, as the vast majority of Arabs would have supported Peres, but declined to vote. In addition, the intense campaign conducted by Netanyahu, in contrast to Peres's campaign, as well as the support Netanyahu received at the last moment from the Chabad movement, and other Haredim who wanted to ensure that Labor's staunchly secularist coalition partner, Meretz, would not return to government, tilted the outcome in Netanyahu's favour. Endorsements by parties CandidatePartyOther parties supportingMERIA: Israel Under Netanyahu https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/meria/meria97_peters.html 2026-02-19 ciaotest.cc.columbia.eduNetanyahuLikudGesherMafdalMoledetThird WayTzometUTJPeresLaborMeretzneitherShas Prime minister candidate slogans CandidateOriginal 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 translationNetanyahu"נתניהו - עושים שלום בטוח""Netanyahu, building a secure peace"Peres"ישראל חזקה עם פרס""Israel is strong with Peres" Party slogans Party or allianceOriginal sloganEnglish translationLabor"ישראל גדולה עליך, ביבי""Israel is too big for you, Bibi"Meretz"תנו למרצ לעלות!""Let Meretz rise!""פתק אחד פרס, פתק אחד מרצ""One ballot for Peres, one ballot for Meretz"Mafdal"ציונות עם נשמה.""Zionism with a soul."UTJ"ישראל צריכה גב חזק""Israel needs strong leadership"Hadash"עובדים לשלום ולשוויון""Working for peace and equality"Moledet"רק מולדת בימין""Only a homeland [Moledet] on the right"Third Way"נפגשים במרכז""Meet in the middle" Debates DateOrganizerModerator black #90FF90  P  Present   black #CCFFCC  I  Invitee black #FFD0D0  N  Non-invitee LikudLaborRefsPBenjamin NetanyahuPShimon Pereshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g3F4UmFPV0 ערוץ 2: עימות הבחירות פרס-נתניהו, 26.05.1996 YouTube Results Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu Likud 1501023 Shimon Peres Labor Party 1471566 148681 3933250 Nohlen et al. Netanyahu's win was bolstered by large support from the Religious Zionist and Haredi ("ultra-Orthodox") community, 91.2% of whom voted for him. Peres on the other hand, gained overwhelming support from the country's Arab community, 97.5% of which backed him.http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9605/29/israel.elex.8pm/index.html Razor-close race awaits absentee count 31 May 1996 CNN 5 October 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20070813054634/http://www2.cnn.com/WORLD/9605/29/israel.elex.8pm/index.html 13 August 2007 Knesset File:14th Knesset Composition.svg Labor Party 818741 34 −10 Likud–Gesher–Tzomet 767401 32 −8 Shas 259796 10 +4 National Religious Party 240271 9 +3 Meretz 226275 9 −3 Yisrael BaAliyah 174994 7 New Hadash–Balad 129455 5 +2 United Torah Judaism 98657 4 0 Third Way 96474 4 New #36B3C4 Ra'am–Mada 89514 4 +2 Moledet 72002 2 −1 Unity for the Defence of New Immigrants 22741 0 New Gil 14935 0 New Progressive Confederation 13983 0 New Telem Emuna 12737 0 New Settlement Party 5533 0 New Yamin Yisrael 2845 0 New Man's Rights in the Family Party 2338 0 New Ta'al 2087 0 New Da'am Workers Party 1351 0 New 67702 0 3933250 CEC, Nohlen et al.Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I 0-19-924958-X Reactions James Baker, Secretary of State for former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, worried that Netanyahu's hard-line coalition partners would be able to boss him around and prevent him from advancing the peace process, even though the Israeli people want the peace process to continue.http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,984668-1,00.html https://archive.today/20130204171009/http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,984668-1,00.html dead February 4, 2013 Across The Spectrum Time 1996-06-10 2012-09-21 Warren Christopher, Secretary of State for U.S. President Bill Clinton, said that "President Clinton and [he] look forward to having a good working relationship with [Netanyahu]", and that it appeared "that Mr. Netanyahu was committed to pursuing the peace process".Clifford Timothy 1996-06-01 Bubba Asks Bibi To Come & Visit https://www.nydailynews.com/1996/06/01/bubba-asks-bibi-to-come-visit/ 2012-09-21 New York Daily Newsmedic U.S. President Bill Clinton called Netanyahu and congratulated him on his election victory. Clinton also told Arab countries not to "pre-judge" the new Netanyahu government. Clinton invited Netanyahu to visit the White House, and "[Clinton] affirmed the continued support of the United States for the people of Israel in their quest for peace with security" in a White House statement. The White House decided to consider Netanyahu's election win as a positive, despite the fact that Clinton supported Netanyahu's opponent Shimon Peres in this election. Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, "said [that] he could "work with [Netanyahu]" and that he was confident "that Netanyahu was "committed to peace"" David Grossman, Israeli author, said that "Netanyahu's election shows that at least half of the people are not really mature enough for the peace process", since while "[t]hey want peace", "they're not willing to make the concessions it takes". Yossi Klein Halevi, senior writer for The Jerusalem Report, warned Netanyahu against implementing a right-wing agenda and attempting to stop the peace process since Israel at that time was very divided and polarized, and most Israeli voters still supported the peace process. Michael Lerner, editor and publisher of Tikkun, speculated that "[Netanyahu's election victory is] going to undermine the peace process severely", and that while Netanyahu will claim that he supports the peace process, he will "subtly underm[ine it]" whenever he will be able to. Norman Podhoretz, editor of Commentary magazine, said that he didn't think that Netanyahu would be able to stop the peace process completely, but that he expected the Palestinian Authority to have a civil war with Hamas after the establishment of a Palestinian state, which would then be used by Syria and other hostile Arab states to intervene in Palestine and start a new war with Israel, in order "to make one last effort to wipe the Jewish state off the map". Leah Rabin, widow of assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, said that it is "very difficult to say what will be in the future", but that she "think[s] Netanyahu will try [to continue the peace process]" despite objections from hard-liners in his party. Nadav Safran, professor emeritus at Harvard University, said that Netanyahu would take a much harder line with Syria and the Palestinians in negotiations, and that he would also attempt to slow down the peace process. He said that Netanyahu's hard-line positions could start another armed conflict with the Palestinians if Netanyahu did not show more flexibility in his positions later on. Elie Wiesel, writer and Holocaust survivor, said that he "[didn't] think that [the impact of the elections on the peace process] will change much", since "[Netanyahu] has already said he will respect the achievements in negotiations", and since the peace process is irreversible. He also pointed out that while Netanyahu talked tough, so did Menachem Begin 20 years before that, and Begin ultimately signed a peace treaty with Egypt a few years after he was elected. Aftermath thumb|Likud supporters celebrate the election results outside Hilton Tel Aviv Despite winning the election for prime minister, Netanyahu's Likud (in an alliance with Gesher and Tzomet) lost the Knesset elections to Labour, winning only 32 seats compared to Labour's 34. The objective of strengthening the position of prime minister by having separate elections was also a failure, as the election saw both major parties lose around ten seats compared to the 1992 election (Likud held only 24 of the 32 seats it won in its alliance) as many gave their Knesset votes to smaller parties; Labour received 818,570 votes to Peres' 1.47 million, (56%), whilst the Likud–Gesher–Tzomet alliance managed even less—767,178 compared to 1.50 million for Netanyahu (51%). With only 32 seats, the Likud–Gesher–Tzomet alliance was, at the time, the smallest faction to lead a government in Israeli political history (the previous low had been Mapai's 40 seats in the 1955 election; since then, the 2006 elections saw Kadima emerge as the largest party with just 29 seats, and the 2009 election was won by Kadima with 28 seats, but Likud with 27 formed the government). This meant Netanyahu had to form a coalition with several smaller parties, including the National Religious Party, Yisrael BaAliyah the Third Way and the two ultra-orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism whose financial policies (generous child benefits and state funding for religious activities) were in direct opposition to his capitalistic outlook. Netanyahu faced several issues; the left argued the peace process was advancing too slowly, but signing the Hebron Agreement and the Wye River Memorandum also caused him problems with the right-wing. Gesher broke away from the alliance with Likud and left the government coalition in January 1998. Netanyahu was forced to call early elections in 1999 due to problems passing the state budget. 14th Knesset List of members of the fourteenth Knesset During the Knesset term several new parties were created by defecting MKs. Three MKs left the Labor Party to establish One Nation; Two MKs from the Labor Party and four from Likud left to form the Centre Party (Eliezer Sandberg later broke away from the Centre Party and formed HaTzeirim before joining Shinui, a new party created by Avraham Poraz after he left Meretz); three other Likud MKs left to establish Herut – The National Movement; three members of Gesher and two members of Tzomet also left alliance. Two MKs left the National Religious Party to establish Tkuma; two MKs left Yisrael BaAliyah to establish Aliyah; and Moshe Peled broke away from Tzomet and formed Mekhora before joining Moledet. In 1999, David Zucker left Meretz and Emanuel Zisman left the Third Way to sit as independents. Prior to the 1999 elections, Balad left its alliance with Hadash and United Torah Judaism split into Agudat Yisrael (three seats) and Degel HaTorah (one seat) See also 1996 Israeli Labor Party primary Party lists for the 1999 Israeli general election Notes References External links Historical overview of the Fourteenth Knesset Knesset website Election results Knesset website Israel at the Polls, 1996 Daniel Judah Elazar Shmuel Sandler Psychology Press 1998 9780714648644 https://books.google.com/books?id=jsxlOdlCDZEC General Category:Legislative elections in Israel Category:Prime ministerial elections Israel 1996 Israel Israel Category:Shimon Peres Category:Benjamin Netanyahu Category:David Levy (Israeli politician)