2013 Israeli legislative election


Early legislative elections were held in Israel on 22 January 2013 to elect the 120 members of the nineteenth Knesset. Public debate over the Tal Law had nearly led to early elections in 2012, but they were aborted at the last moment after Kadima briefly joined the government. The elections were later called in early October 2012 after failure to agree on the budget for the 2013 fiscal year.
The elections saw the Likud Yisrael Beiteinu alliance emerge as the largest faction in the Knesset, winning 31 of the 120 seats. Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu formed the country's thirty-third government after establishing a coalition with Yesh Atid, the Jewish Home, and Hatnua, which between them held 68 seats.

Background

Following the 2009 elections, in which right-wing and religious parties won the majority of the seats, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu established a government including right-wing parties Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu, the ultra-orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism, the religious Zionist Jewish Home, and the centre-left Labor Party.
Although there were disagreements between the coalition parties on issues of national security and the peace process, and separation of church and state, the government was relatively stable and was able to overcome several political and national security related crises with no real threat from the opposition. The stability of the coalition government increased after a split in the Labor Party when five of its members led by Ehud Barak left to establish the Independence Party. Whilst the Labor Party subsequently left the coalition, Independence remained within it, allowing the government to maintain a majority of 66 of the 120 seats in the Knesset.
Prime Minister Netanyahu's initial popularity remained stable, as he managed to overcome various events that could have endangered the stability of his government—such as the political speech at the Bar-Ilan University at the beginning of his term in which he endorsed the idea of a Palestinian state alongside Israel for the first time, the government's agreement to freeze construction in the West Bank, in light of the common belief of the Israeli public that the diplomatic relations between the United States and Israel had worsened during Netanyahu's term, the 2010 Gaza flotilla incident and its implications, the outbreak of the 2010 Mount Carmel forest fire and the various government oversights which were attributed to this blunder, as well as the growing debate within the Israeli public about a pre-emptive attack on Iran.
However, a decline in the popularity of Netanyahu and his government occurred in summer 2011 following the protests about social justice. Nevertheless, the decline passed quickly after Netanyahu's speech at the General debate of the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2011 following the Palestinian diplomatic campaign to gain full membership of the United Nations, and following cross-border attacks in the south of the country in August 2011. In addition, Netanyahu's popularity was increased after the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange was approved and Shalit was released. These events led to the highest level of public support Netanyahu had received since the start of his term in office.
As a result of the high levels of support for the government, Netanyahu announced that early primaries would be held in the Likud party, a move which slightly surprised the Israeli political establishment and led to speculations about the possibility that Netanyahu would announce early general elections, due to his high approval ratings.

Tal Law controversy and implications

Prior to the decision to dissolve the Knesset, attempts to amend the Tal Law, which allows Haredi to indefinitely defer national service, by Yisrael Beiteinu and Kadima were struck down by the High Court of Justice. It was also supported by the Independence party, but failed after Shas appealed an expedited process pass through the Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs, which meant it would have to be rediscussed and could not pass. The dissolution of parliament would force an automatic extension of the law, due to expire on 1 August, for another six to eight months. Netanyahu said a new law should "make the burden more equal and fair". Yisrael Beiteinu said the dissolution should have been postponed so that its proposed Equal National Service for All bill could be voted upon. Similarly, Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz told the "Suckers Camp" protesters outside Likud's political convention that this was an "historic opportunity to clean the moral stain that is the Tal Law". He also said that the motion to dissolve the legislature at this state was a "stinky political trick" by Netanyahu, Yacimovich, and the Haredi parties. Dalia Itzik of Kadima also reiterated calls to have a new law before the election.
On 7 May the Knesset voted on a series of bills relating to its dissolution and holding the election on 4 September, which passed; however, in the early morning of 8 May, a few hours before the Knesset was expected to approve the bill which would bring the 18th Knesset's term to its end, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached an agreement with the Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz to join the current government, thus canceling the early election supposed to be held in September.
On 17 July, after the failure of parties to reach a compromise on the issue, Kadima voted to pull out of the coalition. The coalition did, however, still have a majority of seats even without Kadima. Nevertheless, the reduced coalition which was now divided between nationalist groups such as Yisrael Beiteinu and Haredi groups such as Shas, cast doubts regarding the coalition's ability to pass a budget for 2013 on the date prescribed by law. This situation, of the inability to pass the budget, revived the possibility that early elections might be held – a possibility which Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed his support of during a special speech he delivered from his public office on 9 October.

Parliament factions

The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 18th Knesset.

Date

Since the term of the 17th Knesset ended prematurely, the term of the 18th Knesset is four full years plus eight more months, starting from the month of its election. The expected date for a regular election was to be on 22 October 2013, but an early election was announced.
Likud's coalition chairman MK Ze'ev Elkin wanted the election to be scheduled for 4 September 2012. He got support for the motion from Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas and Labor; however, Kadima wanted the election 16 September. Meretz, Labor and Elkin submitted different motions for dissolution. Netanyahu told the Likud party on 7 May that he would like an early election saying that he does not "want there to be a year-and-a-half of political instability accompanied by blackmail and populism. I'd prefer a short electoral campaign of four months that will ensure political stability. I would have been very happy if we could have completed the term, which was also my goal, but it is no secret that with the start of the government's fourth year, the coalition is fraying somewhat. The achievements of this government are a result of a joint vision and a partnership that was possible due to political stability. We have not had such a stable government in decades. We are proposing 4 September, after which, God and voters willing, we will receive a mandate."
The Knesset House Committee's approval on 7 May for the expedition of the bill to dissolve the 18th Knesset allowing for plenum vote. The committee bill was approved by a vote of 13 to four. Though Shas voted against the measure, a party member said that "Shas' unambiguous stance is to support the early elections and the legislation. abstained due to confusion. We support the bill."
On 9 October, Netanyahu made a televised address in which he reacted to the inability to pass a budget for the next fiscal year by the deadline of 31 December. He said: "I have decided that it is in Israel's better interest to go to elections now and as quickly as possible. For Israel, it is preferable to have as short a campaign as possible, one of three months over one that would last in practice an entire year and damage Israel's economy." Reactions to the announcement included the Labor Party's Shelley Yachimovich who said that despite lagging in opinion polls to Likud there was a "reasonable probability" of winning and that "the public today understands that security is not just on the borders, but is also job and income security and health and education security". Kadima's Shaul Mofaz told Channel 10: "I think the decision for early elections is a day of hope for the citizens of Israel. It is an opportunity to replace the bad Netanyahu government that has isolated Israel politically over the past four years, damaged Israel's deterrence, and deteriorated the middle class."

Calendar

  • 6 December 2012 – the last day for submission of the lists of candidates for the Knesset to the Central Election Commission.
  • 10 January 2013 – Election day only members of the Israeli diplomatic missions
  • 18 January 2013 – after this date the publication of polls and predictions is prohibited.
  • 21 January 2013 – starting from 19:00 campaigning using assemblies, meetings, speakers, and media is prohibited.
  • 22 January 2013 – Election Day. Polling stations open from 7:00 to 22:00.
  • 5 February 2013 – the general meeting of the newly elected Knesset.
  • 6 February 2013 – the last day to request formation of a new Israeli government from one of the leaders of the factions.
  • 20 March 2013 – the last day to report about the task to form a new government by a faction leader to the President.

    Surplus-vote agreements

Two parties can make an agreement so that the sum of both parties' surplus votes are combined, and if the combined surplus votes amounts to an extra seat, then the extra seat goes to the party with the larger number of surplus votes. Several agreements were signed by parties prior to the election: