This volume highlights Israel's 1999 elections, in which the prime-ministerial race between incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak ended with Barak winning by the biggest landslide ever in Israel. Although some observers interpreted these results as a fundamental shift in public opinion, there is little evidence to support this. The book shows how old patterns funneled into a new system of voting produced the 1999 results, where a weak candidate (Barak) bested a wounded prime minister (Netanyahu) abandoned by most of his political allies. Leading social scientists from Israeli and American universities, using a variety of approaches and coming from diverse intellectual traditions, address topics including the emergence of political blocs, strategic voting, and split ticket voting. In addition to major party performance, special interest parties—who did better than ever in 1999—are also discussed, such as the haredi, ultra-orthodox, non-Zionist Shas, the anti-haredi secular Shinui, two parties appealing to former Soviet émigrés and Arab parties.
Several dramatic events preceded the elections to the Seventeenth Knesset on March 28, 2006, beginning with the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in August 2005 and its attendant and unprecedented removal of Jewish settlements and settlers, followed by major shifts among and within the various political parties. Most dramatic was the split in Likud when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided to form a new party, Kadima, leading to the breakup of the Likud party that Sharon had formed in 1973. This volume charts the 2006 elections.
The Elections in Israel--2003 brings together leading Israeli and North American social scientists and their state-of-the-art, in-depth analysis of the 2003 Israeli national elections. These elections returned Ariel Sharon and the Likud to power amid one of the bloodiest rounds of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and a severe economic downturn in Israel. Contributors analyze the electoral behavior of the voters as a whole and various subgroups, highlighting social cleavages and identity, as well as issues and other strategic considerations. Three chapters analyze in detail the Arab, the national-religious, and the "Russian" vote. The 2003 elections saw Israel's return to the family of parliamentary nations after it experimented with the direct election of the prime minister from 1996 through 2001. The impact of the adoption and repeal of this unique Israeli system of government is another major topic covered in this volume, and several contributions explore the impact of these changes upon the electorate, the party system, and party financing. Other unusual features of the 2003 elections were the low turnout levels among Jewish and Arab voters; political moves to disqualify Arab candidates and lists from running for office, which were overruled by the Supreme Court of Israel; the collapse of the left, the spectacular showing of the centrist Shinui party, and the dominant status of the Likud in the Knesset and in Israeli politics. Through its focus on the 2003 elections, this volume also illuminates developments and changes in Israeli society and politics. Many of these developments--multiculturalism, changes in social stratification, the growing role of the judiciary and of the media, and political reforms--characterize other Western democracies as well, and these are discussed from a comparative perspective. The Elections in Israel--2003 will be of particular interest to those concerned with politics in Israel as well as those concerned with comparative politics and elections in general. Asher Arian is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, a senior research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, and professor of political science at the University of Haifa. Michal Shamir is professor of political science at Tel Aviv University.
The elections to the 18th Knesset (legislature of Israel) were held on February 10, 2009, almost three years after the elections to the 17th Knesset and approximately twenty months before the original date set for them to be held. The elections are best understood in the context of the wars that were at each end of Ehud Olmert's government tenure, corruption scandals involving the prime minister, and the failure of Tzipi Livni, the newly elected head of the ruling center party, Kadima to form a new coalition following Olmert's resignation. The election campaign of 2009 began with the resignation of Ehud Olmert in the shadow of his corruption scandals and issues of integrity and clean government. This was followed by the world financial crisis, which directed attention towards the economic dimension and performance of the candidates. On the face of it, the campaign was cut short when military action began in Gaza. Still, the election was on the minds of candidates, and the question of who can best ensure security prevailed in the campaign. It becamepersonalized and focused on the candidates: the two candidates who had once headed the government and aspired to return, Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, and the chairperson of Kadima, Tzipi Livni, who was running for the first time as head of a party. The Elections in Israel 2009 will be of particular interest to those concerned with comparative politics and elections in an open society. This volume is the latest in the series begun in 1969.
The Elections in Israel--2003 brings together leading Israeli and North American social scientists and their state-of-the-art, in-depth analysis of the 2003 Israeli national elections. These elections returned Ariel Sharon and the Likud to power amid one of the bloodiest rounds of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and a severe economic downturn in Israel. Contributors analyze the electoral behavior of the voters as a whole and various subgroups, highlighting social cleavages and identity, as well as issues and other strategic considerations. Three chapters analyze in detail the Arab, the national-religious, and the "Russian" vote. The 2003 elections saw Israel's return to the family of parliamentary nations after it experimented with the direct election of the prime minister from 1996 through 2001. The impact of the adoption and repeal of this unique Israeli system of government is another major topic covered in this volume, and several contributions explore the impact of these changes upon the electorate, the party system, and party financing. Other unusual features of the 2003 elections were the low turnout levels among Jewish and Arab voters; political moves to disqualify Arab candidates and lists from running for office, which were overruled by the Supreme Court of Israel; the collapse of the left, the spectacular showing of the centrist Shinui party, and the dominant status of the Likud in the Knesset and in Israeli politics. Through its focus on the 2003 elections, this volume also illuminates developments and changes in Israeli society and politics. Many of these developments--multiculturalism, changes in social stratification, the growing role of the judiciary and of the media, and political reforms--characterize other Western democracies as well, and these are discussed from a comparative perspective. The Elections in Israel--2003 will be of particular interest to those concerned with politics in Israel as well as those concerned with comparative politics and elections in general.
Israel's 2003 election took place against the background of a deteriorating security situation (due to Palestinian violence and the impending US War in Iraq) and severe disillusionment with the Oslo peace process. The election, which brought about a decisive victory of the Likud Party and Ariel Sharon, took place amidst strong accusations of corruption and the virtual collapse of the Israeli left. The election also featured the rise of the anti-clerical Shinui party, which resulted in the exclusion of the ultra-Orthodox parties from the new coalition. In this volume, leading Israeli political scientists explore the main actors and processes that shaped the election and its outcome. This book was previously published as a special issue of the journal Israel Affairs.
The newest volume in the Elections in Israel series focuses on the twentieth Knesset elections held in March 2015 following the collapse of the third Netanyahu government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main opposition party, the Zionist Camp, ran a negative personalized election campaign, assuming that Israelis had grown tired of him. Netanyahu, however, achieved a surprising and dramatic victory by enhancing and radicalizing the same identity politics strategies that helped him win in 1996. The Elections in Israel 2015 dissects these and other campaigns, from the perspective of the voters, the media and opinion polls, the political parties, and electoral competition. Several contributors delve into the Left and Arab fear mongering Likud campaign, which produced strategic identity voting. Other contributions analyze in-depth the Israeli party and electoral systems, highlighting the exceptional decline of the mainstream parties and the adoption of a higher electoral threshold. Providing a close analysis of electoral competition, legitimacy struggles, stability and change in the voting behavior of various groups, partisanship, personalization and political polarization, this volume is a crucial record of Israeli political history.
Voters do not always choose their preferred candidate on election day. Often they cast their ballots to prevent a particular outcome, as when their own preferred candidate has no hope of winning and they want to prevent another, undesirable candidate’s victory; or, they vote to promote a single-party majority in parliamentary systems, when their own candidate is from a party that has no hope of winning. In their thought-provoking book The Many Faces of Strategic Voting, Laura B. Stephenson, John H. Aldrich, and André Blais first provide a conceptual framework for understanding why people vote strategically, and what the differences are between sincere and strategic voting behaviors. Expert contributors then explore the many facets of strategic voting through case studies in Great Britain, Spain, Canada, Japan, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and the European Union.
The 1999 Israeli elections focused on the character of the main political contenders for prime minister - Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak. Along with Barak's victory, the Israeli public made important statements concerning the shape and direction of Israeli political culture with a hope of a centrist vision. Leading Israeli political scientists discuss the revival of the Israeli left and the increased strength of ethnic Sephardi, Russian and Arab electorates. They also examine the place of foreign policy, media, and other socio-economic factors on the outcome of the election.
Benjamin Netanyahu is currently serving his fourth term in office as Prime Minister of Israel, the longest serving Prime Minister in the country’s history. Now Israeli journalist Ben Caspit puts Netanyahu’s life under a magnifying glass, focusing on his last two terms in office. "A biography of the steely Israeli prime minister that underscores his relentless, seemingly emotionless competitive drive ... A highly readable portrait of an enigmatic politician." - Kirkus Reviews Caspit covers a wide swath of topics, including Netanyahu’s policies, his political struggles, and his fight against the Iranian nuclear program, and zeroes in on Netanyahu’s love/hate relationship with the American administration, America’s Jews, and his alliances with American business magnates. A timely and important book, The Netanyahu Years is a primer for anyone looking to understand this world leader.
