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1959 Israeli legislative election

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Elections for the 4th Knesset
Israel
← 1955 3 November 1959 1961 →

All 120 seats in the Knesset
61 seats needed for a majority
Turnout81.6% (Decrease 1.2 pp)
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
Mapai David Ben-Gurion 38.2 47 +7
Herut Menachem Begin 13.5 17 +2
Mafdal Haim-Moshe Shapira 9.9 12 +1
Mapam Meir Ya'ari 7.2 9 0
General Zionists Yosef Sapir 6.2 8 −5
Ahdut HaAvoda Yisrael Galili 6.0 7 −3
Religious Torah Front Yitzhak-Meir Levin 4.7 6 0
Progressive Party Pinchas Rosen 4.6 6 +1
Maki Shmuel Mikunis 2.8 3 −3
Progress and Development Ahmed A-Dahar 1.3 2 New
Cooperation and Brotherhood Labib Abu Rokan 1.1 2 New
Agriculture and Development Mahmud Al-Nashaf 1.1 1 0
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
David Ben-Gurion
Mapai
David Ben-Gurion
Mapai

Legislative elections were held in Israel on 3 November 1959 to elect the 120 members of the fourth Knesset. Mapai remained the dominant party, gaining seven seats. Following the elections, Mapai leader David Ben-Gurion formed ninth government on 17 December 1959. His coalition included the National Religious Party, Mapam, Ahdut HaAvoda, the Progressive Party and the three Israeli Arab parties, Progress and Development, Cooperation and Brotherhood and Agriculture and Development. The government had 16 ministers. Mapai's Kadish Luz became the Speaker of the Knesset.

Voter turnout was 81.6%.[1]

Results

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PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Mapai370,58538.2347+7
Herut130,51513.4617+2
National Religious Party95,5819.8612+1
Mapam69,4687.1790
General Zionists59,7006.168−5
Ahdut HaAvoda58,0435.997−3
Religious Torah Front45,5694.7060
Progressive Party44,8894.636+1
Maki27,3742.823−3
Progress and Development12,3471.272New
Cooperation and Brotherhood11,1041.152New
Agriculture and Development10,9021.1210
Union of North African Immigrants8,1990.850New
Progress and Work4,6510.480−2
Independent Faction for Israeli Arabs3,8180.390New
Israeli Arab Labour Party3,3690.350New
Sephardi National Party3,1330.320New
National Union2,4560.2500
Holocaust Handicapped and Injured Faction1,7650.180New
Yemenite Faction1,7110.1800
Independents1,6110.170New
Socialist Union (Bund)1,3220.140New
New Immigrants Front6310.0700
Third Power5940.060New
Total969,337100.001200
Valid votes969,33797.49
Invalid/blank votes24,9672.51
Total votes994,304100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,218,48381.60
Source: IDI, Nohlen et al.

Aftermath

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The government collapsed when Ben-Gurion resigned on 31 January 1961, over a motion of no-confidence brought by Herut and the General Zionists in the wake of the Lavon Affair. When Ben-Gurion was unable to form a new government new elections were called. Serving one year and nine months, the fourth Knesset was the shortest Knesset term until the five-month twenty-first Knesset in 2019.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p124 ISBN 0-19-924958-X
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