A Primer on the Upcoming Election: Israel's Political Parties
by
Charlotte Smokler

On January 28, 2003 Israeli voters will cast their ballots in a general election to choose a new Knesset (parliament) of 120 members. All Israeli citizens 18 years of age and over, including those in prison, are eligible to vote.  With this election Israel returns to its old electoral system whereby voters cast their ballots for the political party of their choice.

Each party receives a number of Knesset seats reflecting its percentage of the total electoral vote and each party chooses a ranked list of candidates to fill these seats. To illustrate: Assume that Likud gains 20% of the total vote. This gives Likud 20% of the Knesset, or 24 seats. Hence, the first 24 candidates on the Likud list become members of the Knesset. The President of Israel, who is elected by a simple majority of the Knesset for a period of seven years (and thus remains in place even when the Knesset is dissolved or completes its term) consults with party leaders following the elections. The President hands responsibility for forming a government to the Knesset member most likely to be able to form a government. That Knesset member presents a list of ministers and an outline of his government's plans to the Knesset for approval. The chosen Knesset member generally becomes the new prime minister.

This was the electoral system until 1996 when Israel adopted a new system under which the prime minister was chosen through direct election. This led, however, to unstable governments in which small parties were able to become kingmakers and extract favors in return for votes. In 2001 the Knesset returned the country to the old parliamentary system.

Though polls continue to predict that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud party will gather the highest number of votes, the election results are no longer a foregone conclusion.  The Likud party primary in November led to charges that the most  favored positions on the Likud ballot were being bought and sold. Around the same time, the Central Election Committee banned two Arab Knesset members, Azmi Bishara and Ahmad Tibi, from running for Knesset seats on the ground of being disloyal to the state. This ban was overruled by the High Court of Justice and they are again eligible to run.

More recently, Prime Minister Sharon has been accused of receiving an illegal loan to pay off a campaign debt. When Sharon went on television to refute these charges, the chief election official of Israel ordered the broadcast cut off after ten minutes because he considered it unlawful election propaganda.

A plethora of parties is part of the picture in any Israeli election. As the New York Times put it on January 15: "a multitude of boutique parties cater to thin slices of the population." To better understand who Israelis will be voting for on January 28, we present a survey in this article of the political parties currently having seats in the Knesset. (1)
 
Balad (The National Democratic Alliance) is led by Azmi Bishara, a Christian Arab. The party advocates a democratic, secular country rather than a Jewish state. It includes a faction called Ta-al led by Ahmad Tibi, who was a principal adviser to Yasser Arafat. (2 current seats)
 
The Center Party was formed by defectors from the Likud. Its leader, Yitzhak Mordechai, has taken a leave from the Knesset to fight legal actions brought against him for sexual harassment. It is a centrist party which has supported both Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon. (6 current seats)
 
Democratic Choice is a Russian immigrants party represented in the Knesset by Roman Bronfman and Alexander Tsinker.  It emphasizes the issue of separation of church and state and equal rights for all citizens. (2 current seats)
 
Gesher (Bridge) is an ethnic Moroccan party whose Knesset members are former Foreign minister David Levy and his brother Maxim Levy. It promotes social and ethnic concerns. (2 current seats)
 
Hadash (known also as Rakah) and led by Mohammed Barakei, was formerly the Communist Party. Though primarily composed of Arab members, Hadash attempts to appeal to disadvantaged Arabs and Jews.  Its program calls for withdrawal from the Arab territories and establishment of a Palestinian state. (3 current seats)
 
Herut (Freedom) opposes territorial compromises and supports the concept of a "Greater Israel" based on biblical boundaries. It is represented in the Knesset by Michael Kleiner. This party was founded in 1948 by Menachim Begin, became part of Likud in 1973, and was reestablished in 1998 under the leadership of Benny Begin. (1 current seat)
 
Labor is a social-democratic party. It was formed in 1968 from Mapai, one of Israel's original parties, and some smaller parties. It was the party of Yitzhak Rabin, and was in the government led by Ehud Barak in 1999. It was Labor's decision to withdraw from the national unity government of PM Sharon that led Sharon to call for new elections.  The party's leader is Haifa Mayor Amram Mitzna. Mitzna advocates negotiating with the Palestinians and unilateral withdrawal if this does not work. On January 14 Labor announced that it would not join in any  new national unity government with Likud. (23 current seats)
 
Likud (Union) is a right of center party led by Ariel Sharon ,who won the special prime ministerial elections of February 2001. The Likud party platform suggests a peace treaty based on "peace for peace." It favors maintaining the status quo on religion/state issues. Likud was founded in 1973 with the merger of three smaller parties including Menachim Begin's Herut. In 1977 the Likud won the Knesset elections for the first time, with Menachim Begin becoming Prime Minister. Ariel Sharon was re-elected chairman of Likud in November, 2002 and is its candidate for prime minister. (19 current seats)
 
Meretz (Courage) is a left-wing, middle class party led by Yossi Sarid. The Meretz party platform calls for a comprehensive peace between Israel and its neighbors and advocates civil rights, social justice and ecology. It was a staunch supporter of Ehud Barak in the special elections for prime minister in 2001. (10 current seats)
 
National Religious Party (Mafdal) is a moderate, right-of-center religious party with former Brig.-Gen. Effi Eitam as party leader.  Mafdal policy calls for making Israeli law consistent with Halacha (Jewish law). It was initially part of Barak's government, but left after proposed territorial concessions to the Palestinians were announced. (5 current seats)
 
National Union Party, is a right-wing party led by Avigdor Lieberman. It espouses the concept of "Greater Israel," and receives much of its support from Russian immigrants. (7 current seats)
 
(Am Ehad) One People is led by Amir Peretz. It is a worker's rights party and has been the instigator of recent public sector strikes. It was a member of Ariel Sharon's national unity government. (2 current seats)
 
Shas, an ultra-Orthodox Sephardic party led by Eli Yishai, has 17 seats in the current Knesset, its highest number of seats  ever. Shas is an acronym, in Hebrew, for Sephardi Torah Guardians. It promotes itself as an alternative to the Ashkenazi elitist elements in Israeli society.  Formed in 1984, it joined the One Israel government of Ehud Barak, but left because of its disagreement with the Meretz party and over foreign policy issues. It has been included in Sharon's national unity government. (17 current seats)
 
Shinui (Change) is led by Yosef "Tommy" Lapid, a well-know TV "talking head." It is a centrist party which believes in the peace process and free-market economics, but its main support is based on its fierce opposition to what it sees as ultra-Orthodox coercion in Israeli society.  Shinui refuses to join any coalition in which the Haredim are represented. (6 current seats)

Ra'am, (United Arab List) is led by Abdul-Malik Dehamshe and supports the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. (5 current seats)
 
Yisrael Ba'aliya, a right-of center party is led by former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky. The party's platform is based on immigrant's rights and advocates increased funding for immigrant absorption. Founded in 1996, it has taken part in the Netanyahu and Barak governments, and left the latter as a result of Barak's territorial concessions. (4 current seats)

Footnotes:
(1) Israeli Insider