Factional and Government Make-Up of the Twelfth Knesset

The Knesset History

The Main Events and Issues During the Twelfth Knesset

Opening session of the 12th Knesset: MKs Farres (Mapam), Waldman (Tehiya) and Zidon (Tsomet), 21.11.1988.

MK Shmuel Halpert from Agudat Yisrael and MK Shlomo Dayan from Shas.

MKs Porush and Peres whispering on the day Peres hoped to present a government, 11.4.1990.

Likud "princes": MKs Dan Meridor and Ze'ev Binyamin Begin, 22.12.1988.

Select a Knesset:

Factional and Government Make-Up of the Twelfth Knesset

Elected on 1 November, 1988.
Speaker: Dov Shilansky;
Deputy Speakers: Shlomo Dayan, Gideon Gadot, Haim Kaufman, Nawaf Massalha,Dan Tichon, Mordechai Virshuvsky, Shevah Weiss;
Secretary General: Shmuel Jacobson.

Name of List Votes in Percentage Number of Seats Number of Seats Before Next Elections

Likud ¹ 31.1 40 38

Alignment 30.0 39 38

Shas ² 4.7 6 5

Agudat Yisrael ³ 4.5 5 4

Civil Rights Movement (Ratz) ⁴ 4.3 5 0

National Religious Party 3.9 5 5

Hadash ⁵ 3.7 4 3

Tehiya 3.1 3 3

Mapam ⁴ 2.5 3 0

Tsomet 2.0 2 2

Moledet 1.9 2 2

Shinui ⁴ 1.7 2 0

Degel Hatorah 1.5 2 2

Progressive List for Peace 1.5 1 1

Arab Democratic Party 1.2 1 1

Meretz ⁴ - 0 10

New Liberal Party ¹ - 0 3

Moriah ² - 0 1

Black Panthers ⁵ - 0 1

Geulat Yisrael ³ - 0 1

¹ Five members of the Likud left, but two returned. The others established the New Liberal Party. One member moved from the Alignment to the Likud.
² One MK left Shas and established Moriah.
³ One MK left Agudat Yisrael and established Geulat Yisrael.
⁴ Ratz, Mapam, and Shinui united into the Meretz parliamentary group.
⁵ Black Panthers left Hadash.
⁶ One member of Shinui moved to Ratz and one moved to Shinui from the Alignment.

The twenty third government was formed by Yitzhak Shamir, on 22 December, 1988.
The coalition members were: Likud, Alignment, NRP, Shas, Agudat Yisrael and Degel Hatorah. The number of ministers when the government was formed -25. The numer of MKs who supported the government when it was first formed - 97. The government fell following a vote on a motion of no-confidence on 15 March, 1990 and continued to function as a transition government, without Labor, until the formation of the twenty fourth government.

The twenty fourth government was formed by Yitzhak Shamir, on 11 June, 1990.
The coalition members were: Likud, NRP, Shas, Agudat Yisrael and Degel Hatorah, the Party for Advancing the Zionist Idea, the Tehiya (left the government on 21 January, 1992), Tsomet (left the government on 31 December, 1991), Moledet (left the government on 21 January, 1992) and the single member factions of Efraim Gur and Yitzhak Peretz. The number of ministers when the government was formed -19. The numer of MKs who supported the government when it was first formed - 62.