1999 Israeli general election

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.

1999 Israeli general election

17 May 1999
Turnout	78.7%
Prime ministerial election
Candidate Ehud Barak Benjamin Netanyahu Party One Israel Likud Popular vote 1,791,020 1,402,474 Percentage 56.1% 43.9%
Prime Minister before election Benjamin Netanyahu Likud Elected Prime Minister Ehud Barak One Israel
Knesset election
Party Leader % Seats ± One Israel Ehud Barak 20.3% 26 -11 Likud Benjamin Netanyahu 14.1% 19 -8 Shas Aryeh Deri 13.0% 17 +7 Meretz Yossi Sarid 7.6% 10 +1 Yisrael BaAliyah Natan Sharansky 5.1% 6 -1 Shinui Yosef Lapid 5.0% 6 New Centre Party Yitzhak Mordechai 5.0% 6 New Mafdal Yitzhak Levi 4.2% 5 -4 UTJ Meir Porush 3.7% 5 +1 United Arab List Abdulmalik Dehamshe 3.4% 5 -1 National Union Benny Begin 3.0% 4 New Hadash Mohammad Barakeh 2.6% 3 -1 Yisrael Beiteinu Avigdor Lieberman 2.6% 4 New Balad Azmi Bishara 1.9% 2 +1 One Nation Amir Peretz 1.9% 2 New This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Speaker of the Knesset before Speaker of the Knesset after Dan Tichon Likud Avraham Burg One Israel

This election was only the second time in Israeli history an election had been held for the Prime Minister's post in addition to elections for the Knesset. The first such election, in 1996 had been an extremely tight contest between Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu on the right, and Labor's Shimon Peres on the left; the right had won by less than one percent (about 29,000 votes).

Ehud Barak, promising to storm the citadels of peace regarding negotiations with the Palestinians and withdraw from Lebanon by July 2000,[1][2] won the election in a landslide victory.

Background

Wye River Memorandum

Main article: Wye River Memorandum

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.

Disintegration of the Likud–Gesher–Tzomet alliance

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 finally gave up the ghost due to difficulties in passing the state budget and in January 1999 passed a bill calling for early elections.

Establishment of the One Israel alliance

Ehud Barak, the leader of the main opposition Labor Party, was Netanyahu's main contender 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 ongoing South Lebanon conflict

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.

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.

Two parties, Manhigut Yehudit and Voice of the Environment, initially signed up to participate in the elections, but withdrew their candidacy before election day.

Results

Prime Minister

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Ehud Barak	One Israel	1,791,020	56.1
	Benjamin Netanyahu	Likud	1,402,474	43.9
Invalid/blank votes			179,458	–
Total			3,372,952	100
Registered voters/turnout			4,285,428	69.0
Source: Nohlen et al.

Knesset

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	One Israel	670,484	20.3	26	−11
	Likud	468,103	14.1	19	−8
	Shas	430,676	13.0	17	+7
	Meretz	253,525	7.6	10	+1
	Yisrael BaAliyah	171,705	5.1	6	−1
	Shinui	167,748	5.0	6	New
	Centre Party	165,622	5.0	6	New
	National Religious Party	140,307	4.2	5	−4
	United Torah Judaism	125,741	3.7	5	+1
	United Arab List	114,810	3.4	5	−1
	National Union	100,181	3.0	4	New
	Hadash	87,022	2.6	3	−1
	Yisrael Beiteinu	86,153	2.6	4	New
	Balad	66,103	1.9	2	+1
	One Nation	64,143	1.9	2	New
	Pnina Rosenblum	44,953	1.3	0	New
	Power for Pensioners	37,525	1.1	0	New
	Ale Yarok	34,029	1.0	0	New
	The Third Way	26,290	0.7	0	–4
	Green Party	13,292	0.4	0	New
	Tikva	7,366	0.2	0	New
	Casino Party	6,540	0.1	0	New
	Lev LaOlim	6,311	0.1	0	New
	Negev Party	4,324	0.1	0	New
	Tzomet	4,128	0.1	0	New
	Natural Law Party	2,924	0.1	0	New
	Progressive Center Party	2,797	0.1	0	New
	Organization for Democratic Action	2,151	0.1	0	0
	New Arab Party	2,042	0.1	0	New
	Justice for All	1,257	0.04	0	New
	Moreshet Avot	1,164	0.04	0	New
Invalid/blank votes		64,332	–	–	–
Total		3,373,748	100	120	0
Registered voters/turnout		4,285,428	78.7	–	–
Source: 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 resigned from politics.

The 15th Knesset

See also: 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 left Balad to establish Ta'al.

References

1. Barak calls early election The Guardian, 29 November 2000
2. Israel's Withdrawal from Lebanon Archived 2010-10-16 at the Wayback Machine ADL

External links

• Historical overview of the Fifteenth Knesset Knesset website (in English)
• Election results Knesset website