Israel
to Hold New Elections
FM Livni
unable to build coalition, elections
likely be held in February
Experts for comment
Israeli Political Parties
Past Press Release: Israeli Prime
Minister Olmert Resigns
Past Press Release: Livni Wins Kadima
Party Primary
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Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni
informed President Shimon Peres today
(Sun.) that she has been unable to form
a coalition that would enable her to
become Israel’s next prime minister. As
a result, Israel likely will hold
general elections in February to
determine its next leader.
Upon her election as chairwoman of the
ruling Kadima party Sept. 17 in the
party’s primaries, Livni – who is also
vice prime minister – began working to
form a coalition government. But today,
after more than five weeks of
negotiations, she conceded that there
was no possibility of doing so.
Livni had been counting on the
religious Shas party, which holds 12
seats in the Knesset (Israeli
parliament) and is Israel’s, to join her
coalition but she balked at the party’s
demands not to negotiate with the
Palestinian Authority over the status of
Jerusalem.
Shas’ non-negotiable stance could impact
the future of a two-state solution and
jeopardize future negotiations. Shas
also insisted on a 1.5 billion shekel
($394 million) increase for child
allowances but Livni was only prepared
to offer 400 million shekel ($105
million), saying, “There are some things
the State cannot be sold for.” Shas’
voter constituency includes large
families and religious seminary students
who depend on the government for
significant financial subsidies for
school and living expenses.
As Kadima’s newly elected chairwoman,
Livni had 42 days to form a coalition
and technically, she still has until
Nov. 3 to do so. But without the support
of Shas and United Torah Judaism,
another religious party which currently
holds six seats, she cannot amass enough
seats in the Knesset for a coalition
that comprises centrist and
left-of-center parties.
Peres now has until Tuesday night to
review the situation and inform the
Knesset speaker of Livni’s inability to
form a government, after which any of
the 120 members of the Knesset will have
three weeks to try to form a coalition.
Israeli law requires a minimum of 61
members to form a coalition.
If a government is not formed within
three weeks after Livni announces that
she was unable to form a coalition,
Peres will call for general elections,
which are expected take place Feb. 17.
Current Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will
remain in office until a new coalition
is formed following the new 2009
parliamentary elections.
Olmert resigned his post Sept. 21 due
to ongoing corruption investigations
into some of his activities when he held
ministerial positions in previous
Israeli governments, rendering his
cabinet an interim government.
Footnotes
1. Ravid, Barak, “Livni: Olmert must
fulfill his promise to quit after
primary,” Haaretz, Sept. 20,
2008,
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1022788.html
2. Mualem, Mazal, “Shas hardens line
after Kadima, Labor sign coalition
deal,” Haaretz, Oct. 15, 2008,
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1028678.html
3. Somfalvi, Attila, “Some things
cannot be granted, says Livni,”
YnetNews, Oct. 26, 2008,
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3612985,00.html
4. Ettinger, Yair, “Shas leaders
think Livni can't give them what they
want,” Haaretz, Oct. 20, 2008,
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1029953.html
5. Ilan, Shahar, “When are elections
and what can be expected in the Knesset
until then?” Haaretz, Oct. 26,
2008,
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031262.html
6. Mualem, Mazal, Ilan, Shahar, Ravid,
Barak “Olmert to hand Peres his
resignation Sun. evening,” Haaretz,
Sept. 21, 2008,
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1023052.html
Israeli
Political Parties in the 17th Knesset
About 10 to 15 parties,
representing dramatically diverse
political views, have been elected to
every Knesset (Israeli parliament).
Following are the political parties
with seats in the 17th Knesset (elected
March 28, 2006):
Hadash
Hadash is the Hebrew word for
”new” as well as the Hebrew acronym for
‘The Democratic Front for Peace and
Equality.’ It is a left-wing party with
roots in Israel's anti-Zionist Communist
Party and defines itself as a
“Jewish-Arab party.” The main points of
Hadash's platform include an Israeli
withdrawal to pre-1967 borders;
establishing a Palestinian state
alongside Israel; the separation of
religion and state; the full realization
of rights for Israel’s Arab citizens; a
Palestinian "right of return" to Israeli
territory; encouraging Israel to join
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty;
and lobbying for workers’ rights. Hadash
has a predominantly Arab electorate.
Members of
Knesset: Mohammad Barakeh, Dov Khenin,
Hanna Swaid
Justice for the Elderly
Justice
for the Elderly is a splinter group of
the Pensioners party. In April 2008,
Pensioners’ Member of Knesset (MK) Moshe
Sharoni requested a faction meeting to
discuss advancing the issues of the
elderly with the Olmert-led government.
When Pensioner member and Chairman for
the Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health
Committee Itshac Galantee refused,
Sharoni and fellow party MKs Elhanan
Glazer and Sara Marom-Shalev resigned
from the Pensioners Party and formed a
new party, Justice for the Elderly. A
Knesset committee eventually approved
the party. Justice for the Elderly
members claim to have split from their
previous party in order to focus more on
senior citizen issues, feeling that the
Pensioners Party was no longer driving
the seniors’ political agenda.
Members
of Knesset: Elhanan Glazer, Sara
Marom-Shalev, Moshe Sharoni
Kadima
A Hebrew
word meaning “forward,” was formed in
2005 by then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
as a centrist bloc with a mission of
unilaterally disengaging from the Gaza
Strip. Sharon suffered a brain
hemorrhage on Jan. 4, 2006. Ehud
Olmert, deputy prime minister at the
time, led the party to victory in 2006.
Under Olmert, now prime minister, Kadima
became the largest party in the Knesset.
Kadima espouses the historic right of
the Jewish people to the Land of Israel.
Kadima also believes that in order for
democracy to prevail in the Jewish
state, there must be a Jewish majority
within Israeli sovereign territory..
Thus, territorial concessions are a
necessity in the pursuit of democracy. A
Palestinian state with good relations
with Israel is a prime objective of the
party. A peace agreement will have a
permanent boundary with neighboring
states, while leaving Jerusalem as the
eternal, united capital of Israel.
Members
of Knesset: Eli Aflalo, Ruhama Avraham,
Balila, Ronnie Bar-On, Isaac Ben-Israel,
Menahem Ben-Sasson, Ze`ev Boim, Abraham
Dicter, Amira Dotan, Jacob Edery, Zeev
Elkin, Gideon Ezra, Tzachi Hanegbi, Yoel
Hasson, Shai Hermesh, Abraham Hirchson
Dalia Itzik,Tzipi Livni, Shaul Mofaz,
Shlomo (Neguse) Molla, Michael Nudelman
Ehud Olmert, Yohanan Plesner, Haim
Ramon, Otniel Schneller, Meir Sheetrit,
Marina Solodkin, David Tal, Ronit Tirosh,
Majalli Whbee
Labor
The
center-left party has been one of
Israel's two dominant blocs (along with
Likud) since the founding of the state
in 1948. Labor leaders tend to support
negotiating with Palestinians and
dismantling most Israeli settlements in
the West Bank in exchange for peace. The
Labor platform emphasizes liberal social
and economic policies and a strong
defense. In 2005, Labor joined the Likud
coalition to implement Israel’s
unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza
Strip. In 2006 it became Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert’s most important coalition
partner. In 2007, some Labor party
members advocated direct talks with
Hamas in order to negotiate a halt to
the group’s rocket and mortar barrages
on the southern region of Israel
bordering the Gaza strip. Today the
party is center-left in the Israeli
political spectrum. Defense Minister
Ehud Barak won the party’s 2007
primaries with 51 percent of the vote.
Labor is the second largest party in the
Knesset, with 19 of the 120 seats and is
part of the current coalition
government.
Members
of Knesset: Colette Avital, Ami Ayalon,
Binyamin (Fouad) Ben-Eliezer, Avishay
Braverman, Eitan Cabel, Isaac Herzog,
Nadia Hilou, Leon Litinetsky, Raleb
Majadele, Yoram Marciano, Michael
Melchior, Orit Noked, Amir Peretz, Ophir
Pines-Paz, Shachiv Shnaan, Shalom Simhon,
Yuli Tamir, Matan Vilnai, Shelly
Yacimovich
Likud
Likud, a
Hebrew word meaning “consolidation,” is
Israel’s major conservative party and
the number one opposition party in the
current government. Its leaders tend to
support Israeli settlements and reject
proposals to divide Jerusalem. Like its
political rivals, Likud seeks peace
agreements with Israel’s neighbors,
conditioned on reciprocal efforts to
stop terrorist activities within
Israel’s borders. The party also
advocates a pro-capitalist, free-market
economy.
Members
of Knesset: Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, Michael
Eitan, Gilad Erdan, Moshe Kahlon, Haim
Katz, Yisrael Katz, Limor Livnat,
Benjamin Netanyahu, Reuven Rivlin,
Gideon Sa`ar, Silvan Shalom, Yuval
Steinitz
Meretz-Yachad
Meretz-Yachad, Hebrew for
“vitality-together,” is a left-wing
alliance that supports a peace agreement
between Israel and the Palestinians
based on a two-state solution as
outlined in the Geneva Accord. The party
is also concerned with human rights
issues, minority rights, women’s rights,
social justice and environmentalism.
Meretz-Yachad is closely associated with
Peace Now, a left-wing, non-governmental
organization. Domestically, the party
views the integration of Israeli-Arabs
as an integral goal. Meretz is a
supporter of a variety of projects to
promote this goal, such as the Center
for Jewish-Arab Economic Development (CJAED)
and the Givat Haviva Institute.
In the
17th Knesset, in 2006, Meretz-Yachad
attained 5 seats. The party is currently
opposed to the Olmert-led government.
Recently, it aligned with the right-wing
Yisrael Beiteinu party in votes of no
confidence against the government. In
the coming elections, the two parties
could form a left-wing coalition with
Kadima, Pensioners and Labor.
Members
of Knesset: Yossi Beilin, Ran Cohen,
Zahava Gal-On, Chaim Oron, Avshalom
Vilan
National Democratic Party (Balad)
Balad is
the Hebrew acronym for ‘National
Democratic Party,’ and was established
in 1996. Balad advocates that Israel
should not be a Jewish state, but rather
a democratic, secular state. The party
favors Israel's withdrawal from all
remaining Palestinian territories and a
two-state solution, in which a
non-Jewish state with Arab and Jewish
residents exists alongside a Palestinian
state. Balad demands that the Israeli
government grant Arabs full autonomy in
such areas as culture and education.
In 2006,
Balad Chairman Azmi Bishara led his
party to the Knesset, winning three
seats. However, in the Second Lebanon
War, Bishara came under suspicion for
treason and aiding Iran-backed
Hezbollah. Shin Bet wiretappings
suggested the Knesset member was in
contact with Hezbollah agents.
Following the accusations and
interrogations, Bishara left the country
and resigned from his position in the
Knesset. He is still wanted in Israel
for questioning.
Members
of Knesset: Said Naffaa, Wasil Taha,
Jamal Zahalka
National Union/National Religious Party
(NPR)
Ha'ichud
Ha'leumi, which translates from Hebrew
to ‘The National Union,’ is a right-wing
coalition of two small, nationalist
parties. In the 2006 elections, the
National Union Party ran on a joint list
with the National Religious Party after
the Yisrael Beiteinu Party split from
its previous coalition with the National
Union Party in 2005 to run separately in
the upcoming elections. To compensate
for the loss, the NPR joined the
National Union on a joint ticket and
acquired nine seats in 2006. Its
platform emphasizes maintaining a strong
Jewish national identity, extending
Israeli sovereignty over disputed
territories and rejecting the concept of
a Palestinian state.
Rehavam
Ze’evi formed the National Union in 1999
through a merger of several smaller
right-wing parties. The party joined and
quit then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s
2001 government. Palestinian terrorists
later assassinated Chairman Ze’evi.
Members
of Knesset: Uri Yehuda Ariel, Effie
Eitam, Arieh Eldad, Benyamin Elon,
Eliahu Gabbay, Zvi Hendel, Yitzhak Levy,
Zevulun Orlev, Nissan Slomiansky
Pensioners of Israel
Founded
in 2006, the Pensioners’ party or Gil
(“age” in Hebrew) began its surprising
ascent to political power with its
unexpected success in the Tel Aviv
municipal elections of 2003. In the
national 2006 elections, the Pensioners
surpassed predictions by winning seven
seats in the Knesset in its first-ever
parliamentary race. The party received
significant support from Israeli youth
who supported it as a protest against
parties marred by political scandals and
corruption. Chairing the Pensioners’
Party is ex-Mossad chief Rafi Eitan, the
architect behind the capture of Nazi war
criminal Adolph Eichmann. The
Pensioners’ party runs on a single
platform that calls for increasing
pension benefits for the 750,000
residential retirees that receive
pensions in Israel. Central goals
include improving medical care for the
elderly, guaranteed pension, and
subsidized public housing.
In April
2008, dissidents in the faction split
into a separate party, Justice for the
Elderly. This new party took three
mandates from the Pensioners (see
above).
Members
of Knesset: Rafi Eitan, Yakov Ben Yizri,
Itshac Galentee, Izhak Ziv
Shas
Shas, an
acronym for ‘Sephardic Guardians of the
Torah,’ represents primarily
ultra-Orthodox Jews who immigrated to
Israel from other Middle Eastern
countries and North Africa. In the 2006
elections, Shas tied with Likud for the
third-highest number of seats in the
Knesset, an unprecedented occurrence.
Shas has a socially conservative agenda,
while also supporting generous welfare
payments, especially for religious
seminary students. Its policy toward
Palestinian Arabs has been relatively
flexible. Shas often holds the balance
of power among the major parliamentary
blocs, enabling it to maximize its
influence.
Chairman
Eli Yishai has led the party since 1999
and served as a deputy prime minister
and interior minister in the government
of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Currently Yishai is the minister of
industry, trade, and labor. The party
also holds another three cabinet
positions. Seeking a stable Knesset
majority, Prime Minister Olmert invited
Shas to join the government in May 2006.
Shas signed into the coalition despite
its disagreement with Olmert’s border
plans.
Members
of Knesset: Chaim Amsellem, Ariel Atias,
David Azoulay, Mazor Bahyna, Amnon
Cohen, Yitzhak Cohen, Yakov Margi,
Avraham Michaeli, Meshulam Nahari,
Yitzhak Vaknin, Eliyahu Yishai, Nissim
Zeev
United Arab List-Arab Renewal (Ra’am-Ta’al)
Ra’am-Ta’al,
the Hebrew acronym for ‘United Arab
List- Arab Movement for Renewal,’ is the
largest Arab party in the Knesset and
endorses an end to what it considers the
Israeli occupation of the territories.
It supports the creation of an
independent Palestinian state, with East
Jerusalem as its capital. The party
calls for dismantling all Israeli
settlements, including those in the
Golan Heights and along Israel’s border
with Lebanon (land it contends belongs
to Lebanon).
The
party supports the separation of
religion and state, the “right of
return” within Israeli borders for
Palestinian refugees, and the
dismantling of all nuclear weapons in
the world, in particular Israel. Ra’am-Ta’al
calls for the recognition of Israeli
Arabs as a national minority and
believes that Arabs should not be
recruited to serve in the Israel Defense
Forces. Ra'am-Ta’al believes that
Israel should give Islamic religious
courts greater freedom in performing
judicial duties, especially among the
Israeli-Arab Shi’ite communities. In
addition, the movement calls for an
increase in the budget for subsidizing
all holy places belonging to the
Muslims, Christians and Druze. The
party enjoys particular popularity among
the Bedouin population.
Members
of Knesset: Talab El-Sana, Ibrahim
Sarsur, Ahmad Tibi, Abas Zkoor
United Torah Judaism
United
Torah Judaism (also known in Hebrew as
‘Yahadut HaTorah Hameukhedet’) is an
alliance of two small, ultra-Orthodox
political parties. It represents the
growing ultra-Orthodox community. It
opposes the separation of religion and
state, drafting young ultra-Orthodox men
into the military and any change in the
nation’s laws that prohibiting most
businesses from opening on Saturdays and
holidays. The party has been highly
successful in securing financial aid for
the ultra-Orthodox community, including
government stipends for large families.
Members
of Knesset: Moshe Gafni, Shmuel Halpert,
Yakov Litzman, Uri Maklev, Meir Porush,
Avraham Ravitz
Yisrael Beiteinu
Yisrael
Beiteinu, which translates from Hebrew
to ‘Israel Our Home’ is a right-wing
party established in 1999 by Avigdor
Lieberman, an immigrant from the former
Soviet Union. The party became the
fifth-largest parliamentary faction
following the 2006 general elections,
with more than half of Israel’s Russian
immigrants voting for it. The party’s
two core principles include encouraging
socio-economic opportunities for new
immigrants and taking a hard line in
negotiations with the Palestinians and
with Arab states.
Lieberman was minister of strategic
affairs until Yisrael Beiteinu withdrew
from the coalition government in January
2008, in protest of developing peace
talks with the Palestinian Authority.
Members of
Knesset: Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Israel
Hasson, Robert Ilatov, Sofa Landver,
Avigdor Liberman, Alex Miller, Stas
Misezhnikov, David Rotem, Yosef Shagal,
Lia Shemtov, Esterina Tartman
