Israeli legislative election, 1949
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Elections for the Constituent Assembly were held in newly-independent Israel on 25 January, 1949. Voter turnout was 85.8%. Two days after its first meeting on 14 February, 1949, legislators voted to change the name of the body to the Knesset (Hebrew: כנסת, translated as Assembly). It is known today as the First Knesset.
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[edit] Results
| Party | Votes | % | Seats at start of session | Seats at end of session |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mapai | 155,274 | 35.7% | 46 | 46 |
| Mapam ¹ | 64,018 | 14.7% | 19 | 20 |
| United Religious Front | 52,982 | 12.2% | 16 | 16 |
| Herut ² | 49,782 | 11.5% | 14 | 12 |
| General Zionists | 22,661 | 5.2% | 7 | 7 |
| Progressive Party | 17,786 | 4.1% | 5 | 5 |
| Sephardim and Oriental Communities | 15,287 | 3.5% | 4 | 4 |
| Maki ¹ | 15,148 | 3.5% | 4 | 3 |
| Democratic List of Nazareth | 7,387 | 1.7% | 2 | 2 |
| Fighters' List | 5,363 | 1.2% | 1 | 1 |
| WIZO | 5,173 | 1.2% | 1 | 1 |
| Yemenite Association | 4,399 | 1.0% | 1 | 1 |
| Non-qualifiers | 19,424 | 4.5% | - | - |
| Total valid votes | 434,684 | 100% | ||
| Hebrew Communists ¹ | - | - | 0 | 0 |
| Ari Jabotinsky ² | - | - | 0 | 1 |
| Hillel Kook ² | - | - | 0 | 1 |
¹ Eliezer Preminger left Maki and created the Hebrew Communists before deciding to join Mapam
² Ari Jabotinsky and Hillel Kook broke away from Herut, but were not recognised as a separate party by the speaker.
[edit] Non-qualifiers
The following parties ran for election, but did not pass the electoral threshold of 1% (4,346 votes):
- Brit HaTzohar
- For Jerusalem
- The Popular Arab Block
- The United List of Religious Workers
- The Working and Religious Women
- The Workers Block
- Traditional Judaism List
- Yitzhak Gruenbaum List
- Ultra-orthodox List
[edit] The First Knesset
[edit] First government
The first government was formed by David Ben-Gurion, on 8 March, 1949. His Mapai party formed a coalition with the United Religious Front, the Progressive Party, the Sephardim and Oriental Communities and the Democratic List of Nazareth, and there were 12 ministers. Yosef Sprinzak of Mapai was appointed as the speaker.
The trend of political instability in Israel was started when Ben-Gurion resigned on 15 October, 1950 over disagreements with the United Religious Front on education in the new immigrant camps and the religious education system, as well as demands that the Supply and Rationing Ministry be closed and a businessman appointed as Minister for Trade and Industry.
[edit] Second government
Ben Gurion formed a second government on 1 November, 1950 with the same coalition partners as previously, though there was a slight reshuffle in his cabinet; David Remez moved from the Transportation ministry to Education, replacing Zalman Shazar (who was left out of the new cabinet), whilst Dov Yosef replaced Remez as Minister of Transportation. Ya'akov Geri was appointed Minister of Trade and Industry despite not being a Member of the Knesset. There was also a new Deputy Minister in the Transportation ministry.
The door was opened for the elections for the second knesset when the government resigned on 14 February, 1951 after the Knesset had rejected the Minister of Education and Culture's proposals on the registration of schoolchildren.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Historical overview of the First Knesset Knesset website (English)
- Factional and Government Make-Up of the First Knesset Knesset website (English)
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