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Brit Tzedek v'Shalom
Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace
Educational Resources
Israeli Election Results and the Constitution of the Governing Coalition
The Israeli elections were held on January 28, 2003 with a record-low turnout 68% in a country in which 80% of the electorate typically votes. Ariel Sharon and the Likud Party more than doubled their representation in the 120-seat Israeli Knesset from 19 to 38 seats. Another notable outcome was the growth of the single-issue Shinui Party from 6 to 15 seats whose entire campaign was focused around the reduction of the special subsidies and political influence of the ultra-Orthodox. The left-wing Labor and Meretz parties, which have supported a negotiated two-state solution, lost a combined 12 seats.
Coalition Government
Ariel Sharon formed a 68-seat coalition dominated by his Likud Party, along with the National Religious Party, the National Unity Party, and Shinui. Shinui insisted on the exclusion of several haredi (ultra-orthodox) parties. This was the first time in many years that the haredi parties had been excluded from the government. The biggest surprise of this coalition negotiation was that that Shinui and the National Religious Party were able to negotiate an understanding by which they would agree to sit together in the same government. The opposition is shown below divided into two separate camps: the left-wing parties and the haredi religious parties.
| Coalition Government | Opposition Parties | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center-Left | Ultra-Orthodox | ||||
| Likud * (note) | 40 | Labor | 19 | Shas | 11 |
| Shinui | 15 | Meretz | 6 | United Torah Judaism | 5 |
| National Religious Party | 6 | One Nation | 3 | ||
| National Unity | 7 | Hadash | 3 | ||
| Balad | 3 | ||||
| Ra'am | 2 | ||||
| Total | 68 | Total | 36 | Total | 16 |
Cabinet Members:
Ariel Sharon - Prime Minister (Likud)
Shual Mofaz - Minister of Defense (Likud)
Silvan Shalom - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Prime Minister (Likud)
Benjamin Netanyahu - Minister of Finance (Likud)
Yosef Lapid - Minister of Justice, Deputy Prime Minister (Shinui)
Ehud Olmert - Minister of Industry and Trade, Alternate Prime Minister (Likud)
Tzachi Hanegbi - Minister for Public Security (Likud)
Avraham Poraz - Minister of the Interior (Shinui)
Limor Livnat - Minister of Education, Culture and Sport (Likud)
Effi Eitam - Minister of Housing and Construction (National Religious Party)
Natan Sharansky - Minister without Portfolio (Likud)
Benyamin Elon - Minister of Tourism (National Union)
Gideon Ezra - Minister without Portfolio (Likud)
Yisrael Katz - Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Likud)
Uzi Landau - Minister without Portfolio (Likud)
Avigdor Lieberman - Minister of Transportation (National Union)
Tzipi Livni - Minister of Immigrant Absorption (Likud)
Yehudit Naot - Minister of the Environment (Shinui)
Dan Naveh - Minister of Health (Likud)
Zevulun Orlev - Minister of Labor and Social Affairs (National Religious Party)
Joseph Paritzky - Minister of National Infrastructures (Shinui)
Eliezer Sandberg - Minister of Science and Technology (Shinui)
Meir Sheetrit - Minister without Portfolio (Likud)
For details on the Israeli electoral system and the descriptions of the Israeli political parties mentioned here, click here to read Brit Tzedek's Pre-Election Guide.
Prepared by David J. Albert and the Brit Tzedek Education Committee