September 2019 Israeli legislative election

September 2019 Israeli legislative election

17 September 2019

Party Leader Current seats Likud scope="row" style="background-color: transparent; border-left: 4px solid Template:Blue and White/meta/color; font-weight: normal; text-align: left;" | Blue and White Shas United Torah Judaism Hadash–Ta'al Labor Yisrael Beiteinu scope="row" style="background-color: transparent; border-left: 4px solid Template:Union of Right-Wing Parties/meta/color; font-weight: normal; text-align: left;" | United Right Meretz Kulanu Ra'am–Balad

This lists parties that currently hold seats.

Incumbent Prime Minister x65px Benjamin Netanyahu (interim) Likud

Snap legislative elections are due to be held in Israel on 17 September 2019 to elect the 120 members of the 22nd Knesset. Following the prior elections in April, incumbent and Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition, the first such failure in Israeli history. On 30 May, the Knesset voted to dissolve itself and trigger new elections, in order to prevent Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz from being appointed Prime Minister-designate. This election was the first time that the Knesset voted to dissolve itself before a government had been formed.

Background

Following the April 2019 elections, Likud leader and incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had until the end of 29 May to form a governing coalition, including a two-week extension granted by President Reuven Rivlin. Should the deadline pass without a coalition being formed, Rivlin would be tasked with appointing a new Prime Minister-designate, presumed to be Blue and White party head Benny Gantz.

Negotiations between Netanyahu and a number of potential coalition partners stalled. One sticking point between Netanyahu and Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Lieberman was the passage of the draft law, which is opposed by the Haredi parties in the coalition. The law would remove the current exemption of yeshiva students from conscription. Netanyahu needed both Yisrael Beitenu and the Haredi parties in his coalition in order to have enough seats to form a majority.

As an alternative, Netanyahu approached Labor about the possibility of their support, but they rejected the offer. Meanwhile, Netanyahu's legal troubles overshadowed further possible coalition negotiations, with Blue and White refusing to work with him in the circumstances. The new elections also mean that Netanyahu's proposed immunity law cannot proceed for now.

On 28 May, the Knesset passed on first reading a bill which would dissolve the Knesset and force a snap election. This move was intended to place additional pressure on coalition partners to reach an agreement in time, as well as to prevent Gantz from being given the opportunity to put together a coalition should the deadline pass. Later that day, the committee approved the bill for second and third reading.

Late in the evening on 29 May, it was announced that talks had failed. That night, and into the morning of 30 May, the Knesset passed second and third readings of the bill to dissolve itself and force a snap election with a vote of 74 in favour to 45 against. The 45 votes against the resolution came from the entire membership of three parties: the Blue and White alliance (35 votes), Labor party (6 votes), and the Meretz party (4 votes). All other Knesset members voted for the resolution, with the exception of Roy Folkman, who was absent.

The date for the election was set for 17 September.

Electoral system

Further information: Elections in Israel

The 120 seats in the Knesset are elected by closed list proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency. The electoral threshold for the election is 3.25%. In most cases, this implies a minimum party size of four seats, but it is mathematically possible for a party to pass the electoral threshold and have only three seats (since 3.25% of 120 members = 3.9 members).

Surplus-vote agreements

Further information: D'Hondt method

Two parties can sign an agreement that allows them to compete for leftover seats as though they are running together on the same list. The Bader–Ofer method disproportionately favors larger lists, meaning that such an alliance is more likely to receive leftover seats than both of its comprising lists would be individually. If the alliance receives leftover seats, the Bader–Ofer calculation is then applied privately, to determine how the seats are divided among the two allied lists.

Parliamentary factions

For a more comprehensive list, see List of political parties in Israel.

The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 21st Knesset.

Name		Ideology	Primary demographic	Leader	April 2019 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	Likud	Conservatism, National conservatism, National liberalism, Right-wing populism	-	Benjamin Netanyahu	26.46%	35 / 120
style="background:Template:Blue and White/meta/color;"|	Blue and White	Big tent, Liberalism	-	Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid	26.13%	35 / 120
	Shas	Religious conservatism, Right-wing populism	Sephardi and Mizrahi Haredi	Aryeh Deri	5.99%	8 / 120
	United Torah Judaism	Religious conservatism	Ashkenazi Haredi	Yaakov Litzman	5.78%	8 / 120
	Hadash–Ta'al	Ecosocialism–Arab Nationalism	Israeli Arabs	Ayman Odeh	4.49%	6 / 120
	Labor	Social democracy, Social Liberalism	-	Avi Gabbay (Outgoing)	4.43%	6 / 120
	Yisrael Beiteinu	Nationalism, Secularism, Right-wing populism	Russian-speakers	Avigdor Lieberman	4.01%	5 / 120
style="background:Template:Union of Right-Wing Parties/meta/color;"|	United Right	Religious Zionism, Religious conservatism, Right-wing populism	Modern Orthodox and Chardal Jews	Rafi Peretz	3.70%	5 / 120
	Meretz	Progressivism, Social democracy, Secularism	-	Tamar Zandberg	3.63%	4 / 120
	Kulanu	Conservative liberalism, Economic egalitarianism	-	Moshe Kahlon	3.54%	4 / 120
	Ra'am–Balad	Islamism–Arab nationalism	Israeli Arabs	Mansour Abbas	3.33%	4 / 120

Public expression of interest

The Likud and Kulanu parties announced on 29 May their intention to run together in the new election.

Right-libertarian Zehut leader Moshe Feiglin announced on 30 May that the party will run in the election, expressed openness to run as part of an alliance on the right, and urged "all political figures who see themselves as part of the freedom camp" to join it. Feiglin and New Right leader Naftali Bennett discussed a potential electoral alliance in a meeting that was described as "long and positive". According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Bennett is interested in a broad alliance, and is also expected to meet with Rafi Peretz of The Jewish Home and Bezalel Smotrich of far-right Tkuma; however, Smotrich was highly critical of the proposed alliance. Bennett is also reportedly "sending out signals" to Itamar Ben-Gvir of far-right Otzma Yehudit. The New Right party stated on 5 June that negotiations with other parties will not start until 15 July. Feiglin has been critical of a potential union of his party with the United Right, while being more open to a technical bloc with the New Right.

Meretz leader Tamar Zandberg and Meretz MK Michal Rozin have called on the Israeli Labor Party to unite with Meretz in a joint list, while Labor chairman Avi Gabbay said on 31 May the party would merge with either Meretz or Blue and White. Meretz is also considering a joint run with Hadash-Ta'al.

The Blue and White alliance confirmed on 2 June 2019 that it will run using the same rotating premiership as in the previous election.

Oren Hazan has stated that he will run in the election, preferably as part of a large right-wing party.

Ayelet Shaked stated on 11 June that she would be running for a Knesset seat, though she did not indicate which party she would run with (ruling out Likud in the process), though she reportedly wants to run as the head of a united right-wing list.

Ehud Barak is exploring a run as part of an independent party in the election.

Tiberias mayor Ron Cobi will run as part of a new party called Secular Right.

The Ra'am-Balad and Hadash-Ta'al factions announced on 20 June that they have re-established the Joint List in which they ran for the 2015 Israeli legislative election.

Campaign

Some parties, like Likud, Labor, the Jewish Home, Zehut, and Meretz, have systems in which the leadership and most candidates on their lists are elected in primary elections.

Blue and White

The Blue and White party will emphasize its right-wing bona fides in an effort to gain voters from that sector.

Jewish Home

The Jewish Home party voted on 19 June 2019 to maintain the same electoral list as the last election, though it left open the possibility of merging with other lists..

Labor

Labor plans to hold its leadership primary on 2 July. Amir Peretz announced on 2 June 2019 that he would run in the primary. The party is expected to hold a vote in the near future on whether the primary would be open to all party members or by activists; in addition, there will also be a vote on whether to keep the slate of candidates from the April election or to choose a new list. Labor member Tal Russo was considering running, though he announced on 10 June that he was leaving politics. Yair Golan might run as well. Stav Shaffir confirmed on 7 June that she would run. Avi Gabbay announced on 11 June that he would not run again for party leader; he announced the following day that he was quitting politics. Itzik Shmuli announced on 12 June that he would run.

Meretz

Former MK Nitzan Horowitz announced on 10 June that he would run for the Meretz leadership. Issawi Frej and Mossi Raz announced on 12 June that they would run the party jointly, if they win the leadership race, though they dropped out on 17 June and endorsed current leader Tamar Zandberg. Members of the party, on 16 June, voted against holding primaries, instead allowing the party committee to appoint the party leader on 27 June and choose the Knesset slate on 11 July.

Opinion polls

Main article: Opinion polling for the September 2019 Israeli legislative election