All Israel elections

1988 Israeli Election

1 November 1988 · The Mahapach and the two-bloc era · 120 seats, 61 for a majority

On 8 October 1988, the Alignment leader Shimon Peres visited the Likud stronghold Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem. There, he was greeted by a mob of angry protesters, who called him "Peres Arafat", a "traitor", and a "maniac", and threw buckets of cold water at him, forcing dozens of police officers being called to guide Peres away from the demonstrators.

Prime Minister before

Yitzhak Shamir

Likud

Prime Minister (continued)

Yitzhak Shamir

Likud

Largest force

Likud

40 of 120 seats

Turnout

79.7%

The result

Share of the Knesset
Likud40-1
709,30531.1%
Alignment39-5
685,36330.0%
Shas6+2
107,7094.7%
Agudat Yisrael5+3
102,7144.5%
Ratz5+2
97,5134.3%
National Religious Party5+1
89,7203.9%
Hadash40
84,0323.7%
Tehiya3-2
70,7303.1%

13 further seats went to parties and independents outside the main contenders listed above.