Israeli legislative election, 1951

Elections for the 2nd Knesset

30 July 1951

Party Leader % Seats ± Mapai David Ben-Gurion 37.3% 45 -1 General Zionists Israel Rokach 16.2% 20 +13 Mapam Meir Ya'ari 12.5% 15 -4 Hapoel HaMizrachi Haim-Moshe Shapira 6.8% 8 Herut Menachem Begin 6.6% 8 -6 Maki Shmuel Mikunis 4.0% 5 +1 Progressive Party Pinchas Rosen 3.2% 4 -1 Democratic List for Israeli Arabs Seif el-Din el-Zoubi 2.0% 3 +1 Agudat Yisrael Yitzhak-Meir Levin 2.0% 3 Sephardim & Oriental Communities Eliyahu Eliashar 1.8% 2 -2 Poalei Agudat Yisrael Binyamin Mintz 1.6% 2 Mizrachi David-Zvi Pinkas 1.5% 2 Progress and Work Salah-Hassan Hanifes 1.2% 1 New Yemenite Association Shimon Garidi 1.2% 1 0 Agriculture and Development Faras Hamdan 1.1% 1 New

This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Prime Minister before Prime Minister after David Ben-Gurion Mapai David Ben-Gurion Mapai

File:Weizmann Voting.jpg

President Chaim Weizmann votes

File:BeduinElect51.jpg

Bedouin man votes

Elections for the second Knesset were held in Israel on 30 July 1951. Voter turnout was 75.1%.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/−
Mapai ¹	256,456	37.3	45	−1
General Zionists ²	111,394	16.2	20	+13
Mapam ¹	86,095	12.5	15	−4
Hapoel HaMizrachi	46,347	6.8	8	+1
Herut	45,651	6.6	8	−6
Maki ¹	27,334	4.0	5	+1
Progressive Party	22,171	3.2	4	−1
Democratic List for Israeli Arabs	16,370	2.0	3	New
Agudat Yisrael	13,799	2.0	3	+1
Sephardim and Oriental Communities ²	12,002	1.8	2	−2
Poalei Agudat Yisrael	11,194	1.6	2	−1
Mizrachi	10,383	1.5	2	−2
Progress and Work	8,067	1.2	1	New
Yemenite Association	7,965	1.2	1	0
Agriculture and Development	7,851	1.1	1	New
Sepharadim-Ashkenazim Unity	4,038	0.6	0	New
For New Immigrants and Freed Soldiers	375	0.1	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	7,515	-	-	-
Total	695,007	100	120	0
Source: Nohlen et al.

¹ Rostam Bastuni, Avraham Berman and Moshe Sneh left Mapam and set up the Left Faction. Bastuni later returned to Mapam whilst Berman and Sneh joined Maki. Hannah Lamdan and David Livschitz left Mapam and set up the Faction independent of Ahdut HaAvoda before joining Mapai. Four other members left Mapam to found Ahdut HaAvoda – Poale Zion, but the move was not recognised by the Knesset speaker.

² Sephardim and Oriental Communities joined the General Zionists.

The Second Knesset

The second Knesset was highly unstable, with four separate governments and two different Prime Ministers. As with the first Knesset, the speaker was Yosef Sprinzak.

Third government

Main article: Third government of Israel

The second Knesset started with David Ben-Gurion forming the third government of Israel (the first Knesset had two governments) on 8 October 1951. His Mapai party formed a coalition with Mizrachi, Hapoel HaMizrachi, Agudat Yisrael, Agudat Yisrael Workers and the three Israeli Arab parties, the Democratic List for Israeli Arabs, Progress and Work and Agriculture and Development. Like the first Knesset, there were 15 ministers. The government resigned on 19 December 1952 due to a dispute with the religious parties over religious education.

Fourth government

Main article: Fourth government of Israel

Ben-Gurion formed the fourth government on 24 December 1952, dropping the ultra-orthodox parties (Agudat Yisrael and Agudat Yisrael Workers) and replacing them with the General Zionists and the Progressive Party. The new government had 16 ministers. Ben-Gurion resigned on 6 December 1953 as he wished to settle in the Negev kibbutz of Sde Boker.

Fifth government

Main article: Fifth government of Israel

Moshe Sharett formed the fifth government on 26 January 1954 with the same coalition partners and ministers. Sharett resigned on 29 June 1955, when the General Zionists refused to abstain from voting on a motion of no-confidence brought by Herut and Maki over the government's position on the trial of Malchiel Gruenwald, who had accused Rudolf Kastner of collaborating with the Nazis.

Sixth government

Main article: Sixth government of Israel

Sharett formed the sixth government on 29 June 1955, eliminating the General Zionists and the Progressive Party from the coalition and reducing the number of ministers to 12. The new government did not last long, as a general election was called for 26 July 1955.

See also

• List of members of the second Knesset

External links

• Historical overview of the Second Knesset Knesset website
• Knesset Elections Results: Second Knesset Knesset website
• Factional and Government Make-Up of the Second Knesset Knesset website