1969 Israeli legislative election

Legislative elections were held in Israel on 28 October 1969 to elect members of the seventh Knesset. The ruling Alignment coalition was returned to power with the largest number of seats ever won in an Israeli election (56 out of 120). This was attributed to the government's popularity following the country's victory in the Six-Day War, and that the Alignment had been formed by an alliance of the four most popular left-wing parties, who between them had received 51.2% of the vote in the previous elections in 1965. As a result, Golda Meir remained Prime Minister. Voter turnout was 81.7%.[1]

Elections for the 7th Knesset
Israel
← 1965 28 October 1969 1973 →

All 120 seats in the Knesset
61 seats needed for a majority
Turnout81.7% (Decrease 4.2 pp)
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
Alignment Golda Meir 46.2 56 −7
Gahal Menachem Begin 21.7 26 0
Mafdal Haim-Moshe Shapira 9.7 12 +1
Agudat Yisrael Yitzhak-Meir Levin 3.2 4 0
Independent Liberals Moshe Kol 3.2 4 −1
National List David Ben-Gurion 3.1 4 New
Rakah Meir Vilner 2.8 3 0
Progress and Development Seif el-Din el-Zoubi 2.1 2 0
PAI Kalman Kahana 1.9 2 0
Cooperation and Brotherhood Diyab Obeid 1.4 2 0
Meri Uri Avnery 1.2 2 +1
Free Centre Shmuel Tamir 1.2 2 New
Maki Moshe Sneh 1.1 1 0
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Golda Meir
Alignment
Golda Meir
Alignment
Counting of the election results
Counting of the election results
A voter in the elections
A voter in the elections
Entrance to a voting booth for the municipal elections, which were held simultaneously
Entrance to a voting booth for the municipal elections, which were held simultaneously

Parliament factions

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The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 6th Knesset.

Name Ideology Symbol Leader 1965 result Seats at 1968
dissolution
Votes (%) Seats
Labor Social democracy
Labor Zionism
את Golda Meir 36.7%
45 / 120
54 / 120
Gahal National liberalism חל Menachem Begin 21.3%
26 / 120
20 / 120
Mafdal Religious Zionism ב Haim-Moshe Shapira 8.9%
11 / 120
11 / 120
Rafi Social democracy כא Moshe Dayan 7.9%
10 / 120
0 / 120
Mapam Labor Zionism
Socialism
מ Meir Ya'ari 6.6%
8 / 120
8 / 120
Free Centre Liberalism ט Shmuel Tamir -
0 / 120
6 / 120
Independent Liberals Liberalism לע Moshe Kol 3.8%
5 / 120
5 / 120
Agudat Yisrael Religious conservatism ג Yitzhak-Meir Levin 3.3%
4 / 120
4 / 120
Rakah Communism
Socialism
ו Meir Vilner 2.3%
3 / 120
3 / 120
Poalei Agudat Yisrael Religious conservatism ד Kalman Kahana 1.9%
2 / 120
2 / 120
Progress and Development Arab satellite list רא Seif el-Din el-Zoubi 1.8%
2 / 120
2 / 120
Arab List for Bedouin and Villagers Arab satellite list יא Diyab Obeid 1.3%
2 / 120
2 / 120
Meri Socialism ש Uri Avnery 1.2%
1 / 120
1 / 120
Maki Communism ק Shmuel Mikunis 1.1%
1 / 120
1 / 120
National List Social liberalism עמ David Ben-Gurion -
0 / 120
1 / 120

Results

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PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Alignment632,03546.2156−7
Gahal296,29421.66260
National Religious Party133,2389.74121
Agudat Yisrael44,0023.2240
Independent Liberals43,9333.214−1
National List42,6543.124New
Rakah38,8272.8430
Progress and Development28,0462.0520
Poalei Agudat Yisrael24,9681.8320
Cooperation and Brotherhood19,9431.4620
HaOlam HaZeh – Koah Hadash16,8531.2321
Free Centre16,3931.202New
Maki15,7121.1510
List for the Land of Israel7,5910.560New
Peace List5,1380.3800
Young Israel2,1160.1500
Total1,367,743100.001200
Valid votes1,367,74395.78
Invalid/blank votes60,2384.22
Total votes1,427,981100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,748,71081.66
Source: Israel Democracy Institute

Aftermath

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Golda Meir of the Alignment formed the fifteenth government, a national unity government including Gahal, the National Religious Party, the Independent Liberals, Progress and Development and Cooperation and Brotherhood. There were 24 ministers. Gahal resigned from the coalition on 6 August 1970 after the government had decided to adopt the Rogers Plan.

The seventh Knesset was one of the most stable, with only three MKs changing parties; Meir Avizohar left the National List in 1972 to sit as an independent, before joining the Alignment the following year; Avner Shaki left the National Religious Party in 1972 and sat as an independent; and Shalom Cohen left HaOlam HaZeh – Koah Hadash in 1972.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p125 ISBN 0-19-924958-X
  2. ^ Mergers and Splits Among Parliamentary Groups Knesset
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