View source for 1973 Israeli legislative election

{{short description|none}}
{{Infobox legislative election
| election_name = 1973 Israeli legislative election
| previous_election = [[1969 Israeli legislative election|1969]]
| next_election = [[1977 Israeli legislative election|1977]]
| election_date = 31 December 1973
| seats_for_election = All 120 seats in the [[Knesset]]
| majority_seats = 61
| turnout = 78.58% ({{decrease}} 3.08[[Percentage point|pp]])
| country = Israel

| party1 = Alignment (Israel)
| leader1 = [[Golda Meir]]
| seats1 = 51
| last_election1 = 56
| percentage1 = 39.65

| party2 = Likud
| leader2 = [[Menachem Begin]]
| seats2 = 39
| last_election2 = 32
| percentage2 = 30.21

| party3 = National Religious Party
| leader3 = [[Yosef Burg]]
| seats3 = 10
| last_election3 = 12
| percentage3 = 8.32

| party4 = Religious Torah Front
| leader4 = [[Shlomo Lorincz]]
| seats4 = 5
| last_election4 = 6
| percentage4 = 3.83

| party5 = Independent Liberals (Israel)
| leader5 = [[Moshe Kol]]
| seats5 = 4
| last_election5 = 4
| percentage5 = 3.61

| party6 = [[Maki (political party)|Rakah]]
| leader6 = [[Meir Vilner]]
| seats6 = 4
| last_election6 = 3
| percentage6 = 3.41

| party7 = Ratz (political party)
| leader7 = [[Shulamit Aloni]]
| seats7 = 3
| last_election7 = new
| percentage7 = 2.24

| party8 = Progress and Development
| leader8 = {{nowrap|[[Seif el-Din el-Zoubi]]}}
| seats8 = 2
| last_election8 = 2
| percentage8 = 1.44

| party9 = Moked
| leader9 = [[Meir Pa'il]]
| seats9 = 1
| last_election9 = 1
| percentage9 = 1.41

| party10 = Arab List for Bedouin and Villagers
| leader10 = [[Hamad Abu Rabia]]
| seats10 = 1
| last_election10 = new
| percentage10 = 1.05

| before_election = [[Golda Meir]]
| before_party = Alignment (Israel)
| after_election = [[Golda Meir]]
| after_party = Alignment (Israel)
| title = [[Prime Minister of Israel|Prime Minister]]
}}

Legislative elections were held in [[Israel]] on 31 December 1973. Voter turnout was 79%.<ref>[[Dieter Nohlen]], Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I'', p125 {{ISBN|0-19-924958-X}}</ref> The election was postponed for two months because of the [[Yom Kippur War]].

==Parliament factions==
{{main list|List of political parties in Israel}}
The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the [[7th Knesset]].

{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" colspan=2| Name
! rowspan="2"| Ideology
! rowspan="2"| Symbol
! rowspan="2"| Leader
! colspan="2"| 1969 result
! rowspan="2"| Seats at 1972<br />dissolution
|-
! Votes (%)
! Seats
|-
| style="background:{{party color|Alignment (Israel)}};"|
| [[Alignment (Israel)|Alignment]]
| [[Social Democracy]]<br>[[Labor Zionism]]
| {{Script/Hebrew|אמת}}
| [[Golda Meir]]
| style="text-align:center;"|46.2%	
| {{Composition bar|56|120|{{party color|Alignment (Israel)}}}}
| {{Composition bar|56|120|{{party color|Alignment (Israel)}}}}
|-
| style="background:{{party color|Gahal}};"|
| [[Gahal]]
| [[National liberalism]]
| {{Script/Hebrew|חל}}
| [[Menachem Begin]]
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=1|21.7%
| {{Composition bar|26|120|{{party color|Gahal}}}}
| {{Composition bar|26|120|{{party color|Gahal}}}}
|-
| style="background:{{party color|National Religious Party}};"|
| [[National Religious Party|Mafdal]]
| [[Religious Zionism]]
| {{Script/Hebrew|ב}}
| [[Yosef Burg]]
| style="text-align:center;"|9.7%		
| {{Composition bar|12|120|{{party color|National Religious Party}}}}
| {{Composition bar|12|120|{{party color|National Religious Party}}}}
|-
| style="background:{{party color|Agudat Yisrael}};"|
| [[Agudat Yisrael]]
| [[Religious conservatism]]
| {{Script/Hebrew|ג}}
| [[Yehuda Meir Abramowicz]]
| style="text-align:center;"|3.2%
| {{Composition bar|4|120|{{party color|Agudat Yisrael}}}}
| {{Composition bar|4|120|{{party color|Agudat Yisrael}}}}
|-
| style="background:{{party color|Independent Liberals (Israel)}};"|
| [[Independent Liberals (Israel)|Independent Liberals]] 
| [[Liberalism]]
| {{Script/Hebrew|לע}}
| [[Moshe Kol]]
| style="text-align:center;"|3.2%	
| {{Composition bar|4|120|{{party color|Independent Liberals (Israel)}}}}
| {{Composition bar|4|120|{{party color|Independent Liberals (Israel)}}}}
|-
| style="background:{{party color|National List}};"|
| [[National List]] 
| [[Social liberalism]]
| {{Script/Hebrew|עמ}}
| [[Yigal Hurvitz]]
| style="text-align:center;"|3.1%	
| {{Composition bar|4|120|{{party color|National List}}}}
| {{Composition bar|4|120|{{party color|National List}}}}
|-
| style="background:{{party color|Maki (political party)}};"|
| [[Maki (political party)|Rakah]]
| [[Communism]]<br>[[Socialism]]
| {{Script/Hebrew|ו}}
| [[Meir Vilner]]
| style="text-align:center;"|2.8%	
| {{Composition bar|3|120|{{party color|Maki (political party)}}}}
| {{Composition bar|3|120|{{party color|Maki (political party)}}}}
|-
| style="background:#C61318;"|
| [[Progress and Development]]
| [[Arab satellite list]]
| {{Script/Hebrew|רא}}
| [[Seif el-Din el-Zoubi]]
| style="text-align:center;"|2.1%	
| {{Composition bar|2|120|#C61318}}
| {{Composition bar|2|120|#C61318}}
|-
| style="background:{{party color|Poalei Agudat Yisrael}};"|
| [[Poalei Agudat Yisrael]]
| [[Religious conservatism]]
| {{Script/Hebrew|ד}}
| [[Kalman Kahana]]
| style="text-align:center;"|1.9%	
| {{Composition bar|2|120|{{party color|Poalei Agudat Yisrael}}}}
| {{Composition bar|2|120|{{party color|Poalei Agudat Yisrael}}}}
|-
| style="background:#C61318;"|
| [[Arab List for Bedouin and Villagers]]
| [[Arab satellite list]]
| {{Script/Hebrew|עא}}
| [[Hamad Abu Rabia]]
| style="text-align:center;"|1.4%	
| {{Composition bar|2|120|#C61318}}
| {{Composition bar|2|120|#C61318}}
|-
| style="background:{{party color|Meri (political party)}};"|
| [[Meri (political party)|Meri]]
| [[Socialism]]
| {{Script/Hebrew|ש}}
| [[Uri Avnery]]
| style="text-align:center;"|1.2%	
| {{Composition bar|2|120|{{party color|Meri (political party)}}}}
| {{Composition bar|2|120|{{party color|Meri (political party)}}}}
|-
| style="background:{{party color|Free Centre}};"|
| [[Free Centre]] 
| [[Liberalism]]
| {{Script/Hebrew|ט}}
| [[Shmuel Tamir]]
| style="text-align:center;"|1.2%	
| {{Composition bar|2|120|{{party color|Free Centre}}}}
| {{Composition bar|2|120|{{party color|Free Centre}}}}
|-
| style="background:{{party color|Maki (historical political party)}};"|
| [[Maki (historical political party)|Maki]]
| [[Communism]]
| {{Script/Hebrew|ק}}
| [[Moshe Sneh]]
| style="text-align:center;"|1.1%	
| {{Composition bar|1|120|{{party color|Maki (historical political party)}}}}
| {{Composition bar|1|120|{{party color|Maki (historical political party)}}}}
|-
|}

==Results==
{{Election results
|party1=[[Alignment (Israel)|Alignment]]|votes1=621183|seats1=51|sc1=−5
|party2=[[Likud]]|votes2=473309|seats2=39|sc2=+7
|party3=[[National Religious Party]]|votes3=130349|seats3=10|sc3=−2
|party4=[[Religious Torah Front]]|votes4=60012|seats4=5|sc4=−1
|party5=[[Independent Liberals (Israel)|Independent Liberals]]|votes5=56560|seats5=4|sc5=0
|party6=[[Maki (political party)|Rakah]]|votes6=53353|seats6=4|sc6=+1
|party7=[[Ratz (political party)|Ratz]]|votes7=35023|seats7=3|sc7=New
|party8=[[Progress and Development]]|votes8=22604|seats8=2|sc8=0
|party9=[[Moked]]|votes9=22147|seats9=1|sc9=0
|party10=[[Arab List for Bedouin and Villagers]]|votes10=16408|seats10=1|sc10=New
|party12=[[Black Panthers (Israel)|Black Panthers]]|votes12=13332|seats12=0|sc12=New|color12=black
|party13=[[Kach (political party)|The League List]]|votes13=12811|seats13=0|sc13=New|color13=gold
|party14=[[Meri (political party)|Meri]]|votes14=10469|seats14=0|sc14=−1
|party15=Movement for Social Equality|votes15=10202|seats15=0|sc15=New
|party16=[[Cooperation and Brotherhood]]|votes16=9949|seats16=0|sc16=−2
|party17=Blue White Panthers|votes17=5945|seats17=0|sc17=New
|party18=Brotherhood Movement|votes18=4433|seats18=0|sc18=New
|party19=Israeli Arab List|votes19=3269|seats19=0|sc19=New
|party20=[[Yemenite Association|Yemenite List]]|votes20=3195|seats20=0|sc20=New
|party21=Socialist Revolution List|votes21=1201|seats21=0|sc21=New
|party22=Popular Movement|votes22=1101|seats22=0|sc22=New
|invalid=34243
|total_sc=0
|electorate=2037478
|source=[https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/elections/1973/ IDI], Nohlen ''et al.''
}}

==Aftermath==
{{see also|List of members of the eighth Knesset}}
[[Golda Meir]] of the Alignment formed the [[Sixteenth government of Israel|sixteenth government]] on 10 March 1974, including the National Religious Party and the Independent Liberals in her coalition, with 22 ministers. Meir resigned on 11 April 1974 after the [[Agranat Commission]] had published its interim report on the [[Yom Kippur War]].

The Alignment's [[Yitzhak Rabin]] formed the [[Seventeenth government of Israel|seventeenth government]] on 3 June 1974, including Ratz, the Independent Liberals, Progress and Development and the Arab List for Bedouins and Villagers. The new government had 19 ministers. The National Religious Party joined the coalition on 30 October and Ratz left on the 6 November, by which time there were 21 ministers.

The government resigned on 22 December 1976, after ministers of the National Religious Party were sacked because the party had abstained from voting on a [[motion of no confidence]], which had been brought by [[Agudat Yisrael]] over a breach of the [[Shabbat|Sabbath]] on an [[Israeli Air Force]] base.

During the Knesset term there were several defections from parties; In 1975 [[Aryeh Eliav]] left the Alignment and merged with Ratz to form [[Ya'ad - Civil Rights Movement]]. The new party broke up the following year when Eliav and [[Marcia Freedman]] left to set up the [[Independent Socialist Faction]], whilst [[Shulamit Aloni]] and [[Boaz Moav]] returned to Ratz. In 1975 [[Benjamin Halevi]] left Likud to sit as an independent, whilst [[Shmuel Tamir]] and [[Akiva Nof]] left Likud to form the [[Free Centre]] the following year.<ref name=MS/> In 1977 [[Hillel Seidel]] defected from the Independent Liberals to Likud, whilst [[Mordechai Ben-Porat]] broke away from the Alignment and sat as an independent.<ref name=MS>[https://www.knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionHistoryAll_eng.asp Mergers and Splits Among Parliamentary Groups] Knesset</ref>

In February 1974 Progress and Development and the Arab List for Bedouins and Villagers merged into the Alignment (with which they were already associated), but both later broke away and then formed the [[United Arab List (1977)|United Arab List]] in 1977. In the build-up to the [[1977 Israeli legislative election|1977 elections]] the Religious Torah Front broke up into Agudat Yisrael (three seats) and Poalei Agudat Yisrael in March 1977. On 10 April Mapam broke away from the Alignment, but rejoined it two days later.<ref name=MS/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.knesset.gov.il/review/ReviewPage.aspx?kns=8&lng=3 Historical overview of the Eighth Knesset] Knesset
*[https://www.knesset.gov.il/history/eng/eng_hist8_s.htm Election results] Knesset

{{Israeli elections}}

[[Category:1973 elections in Israel|Israel]]
[[Category:1973 in Israel|Legislative election]]
[[Category:Legislative elections in Israel]]
[[Category:December 1973 in Asia|israel]]
[[Category:1973 elections in Asia|Israel]]
[[Category:Golda Meir]]
[[Category:Menachem Begin]]