1984 Israeli legislative election

Elections for the 11th Knesset
	All 120 seats in the Knesset; 61 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	78.8% ( 0.3 pp)
Yitzhak Shamir; Likud	Shimon Peres; Alignment

Legislative elections were held in Israel on 23 July 1984 to elect the eleventh Knesset. Voter turnout was 78.8%.^[1] The results saw the Alignment return to being the largest party in the Knesset, a status it had lost in 1977. However, the party could not form a government with any of the smaller parties, resulting in a grand coalition government with Likud, with both party leaders, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Shamir, holding the post of Prime Minister for two years each.

Background

The ongoing South Lebanon conflict

Bus 300 affair

Parliamentary factions

The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 10th Knesset.

Name		Ideology	Symbol	Leader	1981 result		Seats at 1983 dissolution
Name		Ideology	Symbol	Leader	Votes (%)	Seats	Seats at 1983 dissolution
	Likud	National liberalism	מחל‎	Yitzhak Shamir	37.1%	48 / 120	46 / 120
	Alignment	Social democracy Labor Zionism	אמת‎	Shimon Peres	36.6%	47 / 120	49 / 120
	Mafdal	Religious Zionism	ב‎	Yosef Burg	4.9%	6 / 120	6 / 120
	Agudat Yisrael	Religious conservatism	ג‎	Avraham Yosef Shapira	3.7%	4 / 120	4 / 120
	Hadash	Communism Socialism	ו‎	Meir Vilner	3.4%	4 / 120	4 / 120
	Tehiya	Ultranationalism Revisionist Zionism	ת‎	Yuval Ne'eman Geula Cohen	2.3	3 / 120	3 / 120
	Tami	Religious Zionism Economic egalitarianism	ני‎	Aharon Abuhatzira	2.3%	2 / 120	2 / 120
	Telem	Centrism	כן‎	Moshe Dayan	1.6%	2 / 120	2 / 120
	Shinui	Liberalism Centrism	הן‎	Amnon Rubinstein	1.5%	2 / 120	2 / 120
	Ratz	Social democracy Secularism	רצ‎	Shulamit Aloni	1.4%	1 / 120	1 / 120

Results



Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Alignment	724,074	34.92	44	−3
	Likud	661,302	31.90	41	−7
	Tehiya–Tzomet	83,037	4.01	5	+2
	National Religious Party	73,530	3.55	4	−2
	Hadash	69,815	3.37	4	0
	Shas	63,605	3.07	4	New
	Shinui	54,747	2.64	3	+1
	Ratz	49,698	2.40	3	+2
	Yahad	46,302	2.23	3	New
	Progressive List for Peace	38,012	1.83	2	New
	Agudat Yisrael	36,079	1.74	2	−2
	Morasha	33,287	1.61	2	New
	Tami	31,103	1.50	1	−2
	Kach	25,907	1.25	1	+1
	Ometz	23,845	1.15	1	New
	Aryeh Eliav	15,348	0.74	0	New
	Handicapped Organisation	12,329	0.59	0	New
	Movement for the Renewal of Social Zionism	5,876	0.28	0	New
	Aliyah and Youth Movement	5,794	0.28	0	New
	Shiluv	5,499	0.27	0	New
	Independence	4,887	0.24	0	New
	National Organisation for the Defence of the Tenant	3,195	0.15	0	New
	Development and Peace	2,430	0.12	0	0
	Has Mas	1,472	0.07	0	New
	Movement for the Homeland	1,415	0.07	0	New
	Amkha	733	0.04	0	0
Total		2,073,321	100.00	120	0

Valid votes		2,073,321	99.14
Invalid/blank votes		18,081	0.86
Total votes		2,091,402	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,654,613	78.78
Source: IDI, Nohlen et al.

The Eleventh Knesset

Due to the stalemate produced by the elections, it was decided to form a national unity government, with the Alignment and Likud holding the leadership for two years each. The Alignment's Shimon Peres formed the twenty-first government on 13 September 1984. Alongside the Alignment and Likud, the coalition government included the National Religious Party, Agudat Yisrael, Shas, Morasha, Shinui and Ometz. Outside national unity governments formed during wartime (notably the government formed during the Six-Day War in the term of the sixth Knesset, which had 111 MKs), it was the largest-ever coalition in Israeli political history, with 97 MKs.

In accordance with the rotation agreement, Peres resigned in 1986 and Likud's Yitzhak Shamir formed the twenty-second government on 20 October 1986. Shinui left the coalition on 26 May 1987.

The eleventh Knesset also contained two controversial parties, Kach and the Progressive List for Peace (PLFP). Kach was a far-right party that advocated the expulsion of most Israeli Arabs, and although it had run in previous elections, it had not passed the electoral threshold. Ultimately the party was banned after a law was passed barring parties that incited racism. The attempts made to stop Kach from competing in the next elections also affected the PLFP, as the addition of section 7a to the Basic Law dealing with the Knesset ("Prevention of Participation of Candidates List") included the banning of parties that denied Israel's existence as a Jewish state:

A candidates' list shall not participate in elections to the Knesset if its objects or actions, expressly or by implication, include one of the following... negation of the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people.

On this basis, the Central Elections Committee initially banned the PLFP from running for the 1988 elections, arguing that its policies promoted the scrapping of Israel as a Jewish state. However, the decision was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court of Israel, and the party was able to compete in the elections, winning one seat. Nevertheless, the law was not overturned, the Supreme Court merely deciding it was impossible to determine if "the real, central and active purpose [of the PFLP] is to bring about the elimination of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people",^[2] and attempts were made to ban the Israeli Arab parties Balad and Ta'al using the same law prior to the 2003 elections.

During the Knesset term eight MKs left the Alignment; five to establish Mapam (one of which, Muhammed Wattad, later defected from Mapam to Hadash), Abdulwahab Darawshe to establish the Arab Democratic Party, Yossi Sarid defected to Ratz and Yitzhak Artzi to Shinui. The Alignment also gained three MKs when Yahad merged into it.

Ometz and Tami merged into Likud. Mordechai Virshubski defected from Shinui to Ratz. Rafael Eitan broke away from Tehiya to establish Tzomet. Haim Drukman defected from Morasha to the National Religious Party. Shimon Ben-Shlomo broke away from Shas to sit as an independent.

References

^ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p127 ISBN 0-19-924958-X
^ Entry barriers to the Knesset race^{[permanent dead link‍]} Haaretz

External links

Historical overview of the Eleventh Knesset Knesset website
Election results Knesset website

[1] Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p127 ISBN 0-19-924958-X

[2] Entry barriers to the Knesset race^{[permanent dead link‍]} Haaretz

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