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Elections for the 12th Knesset

← 1984 1 November 1988 1992 →
All 120 seats in the Knesset 61 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	79.7% ( 0.9 pp)
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– Likud Yitzhak Shamir 31.1 40 −1 Alignment Shimon Peres 30.0 39 −5 Shas Yitzhak Haim Peretz 4.7 6 +2 Agudat Yisrael Moshe Ze'ev Feldman 4.5 5 +3 Ratz Shulamit Aloni 4.3 5 +2 Mafdal Avner Hai Shaki 3.9 5 +1 Hadash Meir Wilner 3.7 4 0 Tehiya Yuval Ne'eman 3.1 3 Mapam Yair Tzaban 2.5 3 Tzomet Rafael Eitan 2.0 2 Moledet Rehavam Ze'evi 1.9 2 New Centre-Shinui Amnon Rubinstein 1.7 2 −1 Degel HaTorah Avraham Ravitz 1.5 2 New PLFP Mohammed Miari 1.5 1 −1 Mada Abdulwahab Darawshe 1.2 1 New This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Yitzhak Shamir Likud Yitzhak Shamir Likud

Elections for the 12th Knesset were held in Israel on 1 November 1988. Voter turnout was 79.7%.

Parliament factions

The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 11th Knesset.

Debates

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Likud	709,305	31.07	40	−1
	Alignment	685,363	30.02	39	−5
	Shas	107,709	4.72	6	+2
	Agudat Yisrael	102,714	4.50	5	+3
	Ratz	97,513	4.27	5	+2
	National Religious Party	89,720	3.93	5	+1
	Hadash	84,032	3.68	4	0
	Tehiya	70,730	3.10	3	−2
	Mapam	56,345	2.47	3	New
	Tzomet	45,489	1.99	2	New
	Moledet	44,174	1.93	2	New
	Shinui	39,538	1.73	2	−1
	Degel HaTorah	34,279	1.50	2	New
	Progressive List for Peace	33,695	1.48	1	−1
	Arab Democratic Party	27,012	1.18	1	New
	Pensioners	16,674	0.73	0	New
	Meimad	15,783	0.69	0	New
	Derekh Aretz	4,253	0.19	0	New
	Or Movement	4,182	0.18	0	New
	Movement for Social Justice	3,222	0.14	0	New
	Yishai – Tribal Israel Together	2,947	0.13	0	New
	Movement for Moshavim	2,838	0.12	0	New
	Tarshish	1,654	0.07	0	New
	Silent Power	1,579	0.07	0	New
	Movement for Demobilised Soldiers	1,018	0.04	0	New
	Yemenite Association	909	0.04	0	New
	Unity	446	0.02	0	0
Total		2,283,123	100.00	120	0
Valid votes		2,283,123	99.03
Invalid/blank votes		22,444	0.97
Total votes		2,305,567	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,894,267	79.66
Source: IDI, Nohlen et al.

Aftermath

Likud's Yitzhak Shamir formed the twenty-third government on 22 December 1988, including the Alignment, the National Religious Party, Shas, Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah in his coalition, with 25 ministers.

In 1990 Shimon Peres tried to form an Alignment-led coalition in a move that became known as "the dirty trick", but failed to win sufficient support. Eventually Shamir formed the twenty-fourth government on 11 June 1990, with a coalition encompassing Likud, the National Religious Party, Shas, Agudat Yisrael, Degel HaTorah, the New Liberal Party, Tehiya, Tzomet, Moledet, Unity for Peace and Immigration and Geulat Yisrael. Tehiya, Tzomet and Moledet all left the coalition in late 1991/early 1992 in protest at Shamir's participation in the Madrid Conference.

Several defections occurred during the Knesset term; five members of Likud left to form the Party for the Advancement of the Zionist Idea. After two of them returned, the party was renamed the New Liberal Party. Yitzhak Peretz left Shas and established Moria. Eliezer Mizrahi left Agudat Yisrael and established Geulat Yisrael. Efraim Gur left the Alignment to establish Unity for Peace and Immigration, which later merged into Likud.

The Twelfth Knesset saw the rise of the ultra-orthodox religious parties as a significant force in Israeli politics, and as a crucial "swing" element which could determine which of the large two secular parties (Likud, Alignment) would get to form the coalition government. Ratz, Mapam, and Shinui merged into Meretz, while Black Panthers broke away from Hadash.

Notes

1. Mapam had been part of the Alignment since 1969, but the party broke away prior to the 1988 election as a gesture of disapproval of the national unity government with Likud.
2. Kach was disqualified from running in the 1988 elections for violation of the amended Basic Law: the Knesset.

References

1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p127 ISBN 0-19-924958-X
2. "עימות בחירות 1988". YouTube.

External links

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

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