You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 54.174.0.0/16 has been blocked (disabled) by ‪JJMC89‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider or colocation provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts and colocation providers may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host or colocation provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a colocation provider's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: ((unblock|reason=Caught by a colocation web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~)). You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host or colocation provider (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host or colocation provider.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and requests should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 05:35, 2 May 2025.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis. The block was made by ‪Jon Kolbert‬. The reason given is Open proxy/Webhost: See the help page if you are affected .
- Start of block: 18:27, 12 November 2023
- Expiry of block: 18:27, 12 November 2028
Your current IP address is 54.174.96.79. The blocked range is 54.174.0.0/16. Please include all above details in any queries you make. If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

You can view and copy the source of this page:

((short description|none))
((more citations needed|date=October 2012))
((Infobox legislative election
| previous_election = [[1999 Israeli general election|1999]]
| next_election = [[2006 Israeli legislative election|2006]]
| election_date = 28 January 2003
| turnout = 67.81% (((decrease)) 10.89 [[Percentage point|pp]])
| country = Israel

| party1 = Likud
| leader1 = [[Ariel Sharon]]
| seats1 = 38
| last_election1 = 19
| percentage1 = 29.39

| party2 = Israeli Labor Party
| leader2 = [[Amram Mitzna]]
| seats2 = 19
| last_election2 = 26
| percentage2 = 14.46

| party3 = Shinui
| leader3 = [[Yosef Lapid]]
| seats3 = 15
| last_election3 = 6
| percentage3 = 12.28

| party4 = Shas
| leader4 = [[Eli Yishai]]
| seats4 = 11
| last_election4 = 17
| votes4 = 258,879
| percentage4 = 8.22

| party5 = National Union (Israel)
| leader5 = [[Avigdor Lieberman]]
| seats5 = 7
| last_election5 = 4
| percentage5 = 5.52

| party6 = Meretz
| leader6 = [[Yossi Sarid]]
| seats6 = 6
| last_election6 = 10
| percentage6 = 5.21

| party7 = National Religious Party
| leader7 = [[Effi Eitam]]
| seats7 = 6
| last_election7 = 5
| percentage7 = 4.20

| party8 = United Torah Judaism
| leader8 = [[Yaakov Litzman]]
| seats8 = 5
| last_election8 = 5
| percentage8 = 4.29

| party9 = [[Hadash]]–[[Ta'al]]
| leader9 = [[Mohammad Barakeh]]
| seats9 = 3
| last_election9 = 3
| percentage9 = 2.98

| party10 = One Nation (Israel)
| leader10 = [[Amir Peretz]]
| seats10 = 3
| last_election10 = 2
| percentage10 = 2.76

| party11 = Balad (political party)
| leader11 = [[Azmi Bishara]]
| seats11 = 3
| last_election11 = 2
| percentage11 = 2.26

| party12 = Yisrael BaAliyah
| leader12 = [[Natan Sharansky]]
| seats12 = 2
| last_election12 = 6
| percentage12 = 2.15

| party13 = United Arab List
| leader13 = ((nowrap|[[Abdulmalik Dehamshe]]))
| seats13 = 2
| last_election13 = 5
| percentage13 = 2.08

| before_election = [[Ariel Sharon]]
| before_party = [[Likud]]
| before_image = 
| after_election = [[Ariel Sharon]]
| after_party = [[Likud]]
| after_image = [[File:Ariel_Sharon_2001.jpg|x70px|Ariel Sharon]]
| title = [[Prime Minister of Israel|Prime Minister]]
))

'''Legislative elections''' were held in [[Israel]] on 28 January 2003. The result was a resounding victory for [[Ariel Sharon]]'s [[Likud]].

The previous separate election for [[Prime Minister of Israel|Prime Minister]] was scrapped, and the post was returned to the leader of the party successfully forming the working coalition government.

==Background==

===Second Intifada===
((Main|Second Intifada))
Similarly to the [[2001 Israeli prime ministerial election|2001 elections for the position of prime minister]], these elections were also affected by the [[Second Intifada]], which was a period of intense fighting and Palestinian militancy campaigns. Despite the fact that since the last elections there was a significant deterioration in the security situation in Israel, after [[Operation Defensive Shield]] in May 2002 and [[Operation Determined Path]] in June 2002, there was an improvement in the security situation.

The fact that [[Binyamin Ben-Eliezer]] was the defense minister in most of this period (until the unity government was dismantled) did not allow the Labor party to establish an alternative to government policies, mainly because it was difficult to present a position contrary to that which was supported by the party up until then. Contributing this was the militaristic tendency of large sections from the Israeli public that supported more severe measures than those which were actually implemented against the Palestinians for militant and terrorist attacks against Israelis. This tendency led to a situation in which the significant differences regarding the way Israel should react to the Intifada were not split between the Labor party and the Likud party, but rather between the [[dovish]] faction in the Labor party (which supported the positions of the left-wing [[Meretz]] party) and the [[hawkish]] faction in the Labor party (whose position was very close to that of the [[Likud]] party).

Although Prime Minister [[Ehud Barak]] did not run in these elections (and in practice was almost two years out of the political system), at the time Ehud Barak and the Labor Party were widely considered by many in the Israeli public as those directly responsible for the outbreak of the second intifada.

In general, similar to previous elections, the Intifada created a significant gap in the public opinions, as the public which once identified itself as "moderate left" drifted significantly away from the left, leaving a vacuum between it and the far left group. This situation significantly affected the potential voters of the Labor Party, which since 1977 relied primarily on the moderate left.

In addition, the situation in which Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced that early elections would be held, just several days after the Labor party left the unity government, caught the Labor party in a situation in which it did not yet receive a chance to elect the head of the party. When it eventually elected [[Amram Mitzna]], he had little more than one month to gather the attention of the Israeli public and convince the Israeli public of his positions—the most prominent among them being his claim that Israel had no interest in continuing to have control in the [[Gaza Strip]] and in the [[West Bank]].

===Labor party leadership struggle===
[[File:Amram Mitzna.jpg|200px|thumb|right|[[Amram Mitzna]], the head of the Labor–Meimad list]]
((multiple image
| direction = vertical
| width     = 220
| footer    = Various campaign billboard signs in Tel Aviv
| image1    = Elections16 1.JPG
| alt1      =
| caption1  =
| image2    = Elections16 2.JPG
| alt2      =
| caption2  =
))
After Barak took a break from politics in late February 2001, the Labor party established a unity government with the Likud party, in which [[Shimon Peres]] represented the Labor party as the most senior figure of its ministers. At the same time, [[Benyamin Ben-Eliezer]] competed against [[Matan Vilnai]] for the position of defense minister in the unity government (Shimon Peres was appointed to the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs). The Labor party primaries were set for September 4, 2001. These primaries were supposedly won by [[Avraham Burg]] (who was the [[List of Knesset speakers|Speaker of the Knesset]] at the time), although in practice there was a very small number of votes (only 1,000 votes in favor of Burg), which led to many claims of fraud, especially of fraud within ballots of the Israeli Druze community. After a long series of discussions and accusations regarding ethnic discrimination of the Druze public, it was decided that the primaries would be held again in 51 polling stations (mostly within the Druze community) on 26 December. Those elections had a relatively low voter turnout and at the end of those elections, Ben-Eliezer won with a small gap of just 1,900 votes.

Although winning the Labor party's leader position allegedly promised Ben Eliezer his candidacy for prime minister for the Labor party, in practice the problematic election process led to many issues which were also affected by the lack of enthusiasm from the dovish faction of the Labor party to Ben Eliezer's policy as defense minister. After making serious allegations of racial discrimination against him due to being [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardi]], Ben Eliezer was forced to agree to another round of primaries. During the period of time between the decision to hold another primary and the primaries themselves, which were set for 19 November 2002, the Labor party withdrew from the unity government, which led to rumors that the main reason they withdrew was due to the considerations regarding the primaries. The primaries were eventually won by Amram Mitzna, who at that point in time was the mayor of [[Haifa]]. He won 53% of the votes while Ben-Eliezer won 38% of the votes and [[Haim Ramon]] won only 7% of the votes.

===Disintegration of the unity government===
[[Operation Defensive Shield]] and [[Operation Determined Path]], which ended the Israeli policy of restraint in response to Palestinian terrorist attacks, succeeded in considerably reducing the numbers of terrorist attacks carried out against Israel; nevertheless, they led to the disintegration of the unity government. In addition, the economic situation also deteriorated significantly, and after Operation Defensive Shield, an emergency economic plan was brought forth on April 25, 2002, which was called [[Economic Defensive Shield]] (חומת מגן כלכלית).

A temporary lull in terrorist attacks against Israelis was among the reasons that the [[Shas]] party ministers opposed the emergency economic plan and voted against it in the Knesset. This situation caused Prime Minister [[Ariel Sharon]] to fire the Shas ministers on May 20. Nevertheless, Shas rejoined the government on June 3, but this step was the beginning of the end of the unity government. On July 28 [[David Levy (Israeli politician)|David Levy]] and his breakaway Gesher faction left the government due to their opposition to the budget. Although their departure was not significant at the time, further ahead this caused difficulties for the continued existence of the unity government.

When the Labor party withdrew from the unity government in September due to their opposition to the economic policy, the state budget, and the new defense policy, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government had to re-appoint several new ministers to his government. As a result, [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] was appointed as the Foreign Minister on November 1, and [[Shaul Mofaz]] was appointed as the defense minister the next day (a move which aroused much criticism due to its timing - Mofaz was appointed to this position only four months after he finished serving in the military as the Chief of Staff of the [[Israeli Defense Forces]]). Eventually Sharon announced the dissolution of the Knesset and early elections.

===Tal Law and its implications===
On 23 July 2002, the Knesset approved the [[Tal Law]] as an attempt to reach a compromise to the public demand that the Israeli [[ultra-Orthodox]] citizens would share an equal extent of obligations which other Israeli citizens are required to fulfill, specifically requiring them to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. The coalition upheavals delayed the initial adoption of the Tal law.

The adoption of the law, which in practice legitimized the existing massive [[draft dodger|draft dodging]] within the [[Haredi|ultra-Orthodox community]] (while giving them the option to work for a whole year after they get to the age of 18, and afterwards giving them the option to choose whether to join the military or civilian service, or return to the yeshiva), caused a significant strengthening of contempt among the Israeli public towards the ultra-Orthodox community, as most non-Muslim non-ultra-Orthodox Israelis are obligated to serve in the military for several years when they reach age 18. The main effect the Tal Law had in this elections was a significant strengthening to the [[Shinui]] party.

===Ariel Sharon's investigations===
[[File:Ariel Sharon 2001.jpg|thumb|right|150px|The [[Likud]] Party chairman [[Ariel Sharon]].]]
In late 1999, during Ariel Sharon's election campaign for the [[Likud]] leadership, Sharon collected donations totaling six million [[New Israeli Shekel|NIS]] in ways that were prohibited under the law regulating the funding of political parties. The Comptroller's Report published in early September 2001<ref>((Cite web|url=http://www.news1.co.il/archive/0019-D-659-00.html?tag=19-02-42|title = דוח מבקר המדינה: בחירות לראשות הממשלה - 2001))</ref> stated that these contributions were breaking the law (a previous similar complaint against Netanyahu led to the issuing of a warning, and a similar complaint against Ehud Barak even led to an investigation regarding the organizations that helped him get elected). As a result, Sharon returned 1.5 million NIS to the donors on October 4, but had difficulties in raising the more funds. On October 22, Sharon's son Gilad was able to get a loan at a relatively high interest from [[Bank Leumi]], and then made contact with the South African businessman Cyril Kern, who gave him a loan for the rest of the balance on November 30 (even though the money was actually transferred only on 17 January 2002). Cyril Kern's money was transferred to the [[Israel Discount Bank]] on 30 April 2002 and was returned to Cyril Kern on 17 December.

These facts, coupled with the lack of clarity regarding the extent of Cyril Kern's businesses in Israel, became "political dynamite", and were investigated during the election campaign by the State Attorney's Office. On 6 January 2003, the details of the affair were revealed by ''[[Haaretz]]''. (It turned out later on that the attorney [[Liora Glatt-Berkowitz]], who was in charge of the investigation, leaked the information.)

The exposure of the affair caused a political storm and led to calls for the resignation of [[Ariel Sharon]] from the opposition. On the other hand, Likud members alleged that the leak of the affair's details was politically motivated and intended to harm Sharon's popularity.

==Parliament factions==
((main list|List of political parties in Israel))
The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the [[15th Knesset]].
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan="2" colspan=2| Name
! rowspan="2"| Ideology
! rowspan="2"| Symbol
! rowspan="2"| Leader
! colspan="2"| 1999 result
! rowspan="2" |Seats at 2002<br />dissolution
|-
! Votes (%)
! Seats
|-
| style="background:((party color|Israeli Labor Party));"|
| [[Israeli Labor Party|Labor-Meimad]]
| [[Social democracy]]
| rowspan=2| ((Script/Hebrew|אמת))
| [[Amram Mitzna]]
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2|20.3%((efn|name=A|Labor, Meimad and Gesher ran as a joint list called [[One Israel]].))
| ((Composition bar|24|120|((party color|Israeli Labor Party))))
|((Composition bar|25|120|((party color|Israeli Labor Party))))
|-
| style="background:((party color|Gesher));"|
| [[Gesher (political party)|Gesher]]
| [[Liberal conservatism]]<br>[[Economic egalitarianism]]
| [[David Levy (Israeli politician)|David Levy]]
| ((Composition bar|2|120|((party color|Gesher))))
| ((Composition bar|2|120|((party color|Gesher))))
|-
| style="background:((party color|Likud));"|
| [[Likud]]
| [[National liberalism]]
| ((Script/Hebrew|מחל))
| [[Ariel Sharon]]
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=1|14.1%
| ((Composition bar|19|120|((party color|Likud))))
| ((Composition bar|21|120|((party color|Likud))))
|-
| style="background:((party color|Shas));"|
| [[Shas]]
| [[Religious conservatism]]<br>[[Populism]]
| ((Script/Hebrew|שס))
| [[Eli Yishai]]
| style="text-align:center;"|13.0%	
| ((Composition bar|17|120|((party color|Shas))))
|((Composition bar|17|120|((party color|Shas))))
|-
| style="background:((party color|Meretz));"|
| [[Meretz]]
| [[Social democracy]]<br>[[Secularism]]
| ((Script/Hebrew|מרצ))
| [[Yossi Sarid]]
| style="text-align:center;"|7.6%	
| ((Composition bar|10|120|((party color|Meretz))))
|((Composition bar|10|120|((party color|Meretz))))
|-
| style="background:((party color|Yisrael BaAliyah));"|
| [[Yisrael BaAliyah]]
| [[1990s Post-Soviet aliyah|Russian speakers]]' interests
| ((Script/Hebrew|כן))
| [[Natan Sharansky]]
| style="text-align:center;"|5.1%
| ((Composition bar|6|120|((party color|Yisrael BaAliyah))))
| ((Composition bar|6|120|((party color|Yisrael BaAliyah))))
|-
| style="background:((party color|Shinui));"|
| [[Shinui]] 
| [[Liberalism]]<br>[[Secularism]]
| ((Script/Hebrew|יש))
| [[Tommy Lapid]]
| style="text-align:center;"|5.0%	
| ((Composition bar|6|120|((party color|Shinui))))
|((Composition bar|6|120|((party color|Shinui))))
|-
| style="background:((party color|Center Party (Israel)));"|
| [[Center Party (Israel)|Centre Party]] 
| [[Centrism]]
| ((Script/Hebrew|פה))
| [[Dan Meridor]]
| style="text-align:center;"|5.0%	
| ((Composition bar|6|120|((party color|Center Party (Israel)))))
|((Composition bar|2|120|((party color|Center Party (Israel)))))
|-
| style="background:((party color|National Religious Party));"|
| [[National Religious Party|Mafdal]]
| [[Religious Zionism]]
| ((Script/Hebrew|ב))
| [[Zevulun Orlev]]
| style="text-align:center;"|4.2%		
| ((Composition bar|5|120|((party color|National Religious Party))))
|((Composition bar|5|120|((party color|National Religious Party))))
|-
| style="background:((party color|United Torah Judaism));"|
| [[United Torah Judaism|UTJ]]
| [[Religious conservatism]]
| ((Script/Hebrew|ג))
| [[Yaakov Litzman]]
| style="text-align:center;"|3.7%	
| ((Composition bar|5|120|((party color|United Torah Judaism))))
|((Composition bar|5|120|((party color|United Torah Judaism))))
|-
| style="background:((party color|United Arab List));"|
| [[United Arab List|Ra'am]]
| [[Arab nationalism]]<br>[[Islamism]]
| ((Script/Hebrew|עם))
| [[Ibrahim Sarsur]]
| style="text-align:center;"|3.4%	
| ((Composition bar|5|120|((party color|United Arab List))))
|((Composition bar|5|120|((party color|United Arab List))))
|-
| style="background:((party color|National Union (Israel)));"|
| [[National Union (Israel)|National Union]]
| [[Right-wing populism]]<br>[[National conservatism]]
| ((Script/Hebrew|יט))
| [[Benny Elon]]
| style="text-align:center;"|3.0%
| ((Composition bar|4|120|((party color|National Union (Israel)))))
| ((Composition bar|4|120|((party color|National Union (Israel)))))
|-
| style="background:((party color|Hadash));"|
| [[Hadash]]
| [[Communism]]<br>[[Socialism]]
| ((Script/Hebrew|ו))
| [[Mohammad Barakeh]]
| style="text-align:center;"|2.6%	
| ((Composition bar|3|120|((party color|Hadash))))
|((Composition bar|3|120|((party color|Hadash))))
|-
| style="background:((party color|Yisrael Beiteinu));"|
|[[Yisrael Beiteinu]]
|[[Nationalism]]<br>[[Secularism]]
| ((Script/Hebrew|ל))
|[[Avigdor Lieberman]]
| style="text-align:center;"|2.6%	
|((Composition bar|4|120|((party color|Yisrael Beiteinu))))
|((Composition bar|4|120|((party color|Yisrael Beiteinu))))
|-
| style="background:((party color|Balad (political party)));"|
| [[Balad (political party)|Balad]]
| [[Arab nationalism]]<br>[[Pan-arabism]]
| ((Script/Hebrew|ד))
| [[Azmi Bishara]]
| style="text-align:center;"|1.9%	
| ((Composition bar|2|120|((party color|Balad (political party)))))
|((Composition bar|2|120|((party color|Balad (political party)))))
|-
| style="background:((party color|One Nation (Israel)));"|
| [[One Nation (Israel)|One Nation]]
| [[Social democracy]]<br>[[Democratic socialism]]
| ((Script/Hebrew|ם))
| [[Amir Peretz]]
| style="text-align:center;"|1.9%	
| ((Composition bar|2|120|((party color|One Nation (Israel)))))
|((Composition bar|2|120|((party color|One Nation (Israel)))))
|-
|}

==Results==
((Election results
|image=[[File:Israel Knesset 2003.svg]]
|party1=[[Likud]]|votes1=925279|seats1=38|sc1=+19
|party2=[[Israeli Labor Party|Labor]]–[[Meimad]]|votes2=455183|seats2=19|sc2=−6
|party3=[[Shinui]]|votes3=386535|seats3=15|sc3=+9
|party4=[[Shas]]|votes4=258879|seats4=11|sc4=−6
|party5=[[National Union (Israel)|National Union]]|votes5=173973|seats5=7|sc5=−1
|party6=[[Meretz|Meretz-Yachad]] and the [[Democratic Choice (Israel)|Democratic Choice]]|votes6=164122|seats6=6|sc6=−4
|party7=[[National Religious Party]]|votes7=132370|seats7=6|sc7=+1
|party8=[[United Torah Judaism]]|votes8=135087|seats8=5|sc8=0
|party9=[[Hadash]]–[[Ta'al]]|votes9=93819|seats9=3|sc9=0
|party10=[[One Nation (Israel)|One Nation]]|votes10=86808|seats10=3|sc10=+1
|party11=[[Balad (political party)|Balad]]|votes11=71299|seats11=3|sc11=+1
|party12=[[Yisrael BaAliyah]]|votes12=67719|seats12=2|sc12=−4
|party13=[[United Arab List]]|votes13=65551|seats13=2|sc13=−3
|party14=[[Ale Yarok]]|votes14=37855|seats14=0|sc14=0
|party15=[[Herut – The National Movement]]|votes15=36202|seats15=0|sc15=New|color15=#0100A4
|party16=[[Progressive National Alliance]]|votes16=20571|seats16=0|sc16=New
|party17=[[The Greens (Israel)|The Greens]]|votes17=12833|seats17=0|sc17=0
|party18=Yisrael Aheret|votes18=7144|seats18=0|sc18=New
|party19=[[Ahavat Yisrael]]|votes19=5468|seats19=0|sc19=New|color19=#2E4297
|party20=[[Tzomet]]|votes20=2023|seats20=0|sc20=0
|party21=[[Centre Party (Israel)|Centre Party]]|votes21=1961|seats21=0|sc21=−6
|party22=[[Da'am Workers Party]]|votes22=1925|seats22=0|sc22=0
|party23=[[Hetz (political party)|Citizen and State]]|votes23=1566|seats23=0|sc23=New|color23=#04569F
|party24=[[Man's Rights in the Family Party]]|votes24=1284|seats24=0|sc24=0
|party25=Lahava|votes25=1181|seats25=0|sc25=New
|party26=Za'am|votes26=894|seats26=0|sc26=New
|party27=[[Leader (political party)|Leader]]|votes27=833|seats27=0|sc27=New
|invalid=52409
|total_sc=0
|electorate=4720079
|source=[https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/elections/2003/ Israel Democracy Institute]
))

==Aftermath==
Apart from Likud's clear victory, the election was also a success for the secularist [[Shinui]].<ref name=Bennet>((cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/29/world/israeli-voters-hand-sharon-strong-victory.html|title=Israeli Voters Hand Sharon Strong Victory|newspaper=The New York Times|author=James Bennet|date=January 29, 2003))</ref><ref>((Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/2003/01/29/lifestyle/challenge-begins-for-shinui|title = Challenge begins for Shinui|date = 29 January 2003))</ref> Despite gains by the right in the election, multiple polls showed strong public support for policies advocated by the left (such as dismantling settlements, unilaterally withdrawing from Gaza, and creating a Palestinian state).<ref name=Bennet/>

[[Ariel Sharon]] formed the 30th government on 28 February 2003. His coalition initially included just Shinui and the National Union, although [[Yisrael BaAliyah]] had merged into Likud soon after the election. On 3 March the National Religious Party joined the government.

Sharon's decision to implement the [[Israel's unilateral disengagement plan|Gaza disengagement plan]] led to the National Union and the National Religious Party leaving the coalition during June and November 2004 respectively. Shinui left the government in December 2004 following disagreements over the budget. The party later disintegrated following a disputed leadership election, with eleven MKs leaving to form the [[Hetz (political party)|Secular Faction]] and one left to establish [[HaOlim]], which merged into the National Union. Two MKs later left the Secular Faction to establish [[National Home]].

Labor–Meimad joined the coalition in January 2005, with Agudat Yisrael added to the government in March 2005. Labor–Meimad later pulled out in November that year, the same month in which Sharon led a breakaway of fourteen MKs from Likud to form Kadima. Likud left the coalition in January 2006. Following Sharon's stroke, [[Ehud Olmert]] took over as [[Deputy leaders of Israel#Acting Prime Minister|Acting Prime Minister]].

The Knesset term also saw one of One Nation's MKs leave to form [[Noy (Israeli political faction)|Noy]], before joining Likud. One Nation then merged into Labor. [[Yisrael Beiteinu]] broke away from the National Union, whilst two MKs left the National Religious Party to establish the [[Ahi (political party)|Renewed Religious National Zionist Party]].

Prior to the 2006 elections, United Torah Judaism split into [[Agudat Yisrael]] (three seats) and [[Degel HaTorah]] (two seats), whilst Ta'al (one seat) broke away from Hadash.

==See also==
*[[List of members of the sixteenth Knesset]]
*[[2002 Israeli Labor Party primary]]

==Notes==
((notelist))

==References==
((reflist))

==External links==
((commons category))
*[https://www.knesset.gov.il/review/ReviewPage.aspx?kns=16&lng=3 Historical overview of the Sixteenth Knesset] Knesset website ((in lang|en))
*[https://www.knesset.gov.il/history/eng/eng_hist16_s.htm Factional and Government Make-Up of the Sixteenth Knesset] Knesset website ((in lang|en))
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090131084055/http://israel-election-results.info/polls2003.htm Election Polls from the Official Israeli Media]
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=M-TrQJa3dskC&pg=PA171&lpg=PA171 The elections in Israel, 2003] By Alan Arian, Asher Arian, Michal Shamir

((Israeli elections))

[[Category:2003 elections in Israel|Israeli legislative]]
[[Category:2003 in Israeli politics|Legislative election]]
[[Category:Legislative elections in Israel]]
[[Category:January 2003 events in Asia]]
[[Category:2003 elections in Asia|Israel]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

2003 Israeli legislative election (edit)
Template:!) (view source) (protected)
Template:!- (view source) (protected)
Template:(! (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Ambox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Both (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Cite news (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
Template:Commons category (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Composition bar (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Country data Israel (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Decrease (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Delink (view source) (protected)
Template:Delink question hyphen-minus (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Efn (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Election results (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:First word (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Flagicon (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Flagicon/core (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:If empty (view source) (protected)
Template:If then show (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:In lang (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox election/shortname (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox legislative election (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox legislative election/row (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox legislative election/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Israeli elections (edit)
Template:Main (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Main list (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:Min (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:More citations needed (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Multiple image (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Multiple image/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Notelist (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Nowrap (view source) (protected)
Template:Order of magnitude (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:PNsign (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Template:Party color (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Plainlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Template:Script/Hebrew (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Script/styles hebrew.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Short description (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description/lowercasecheck (view source) (protected)
Template:Side box (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Sister project (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Succession links (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Template other (view source) (protected)
Template:Yesno (view source) (protected)
Template:Yesno-no (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/shared (view source) (protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Delink (view source) (protected)
Module:Disambiguation/templates (view source) (protected)
Module:Election results (view source) (protected)
Module:Find sources (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/links (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/templates/Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Format link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote list (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:If empty (view source) (protected)
Module:In lang (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Infobox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Infobox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:InfoboxImage (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Labelled list hatnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Lang (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Lang/ISO 639 synonyms (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Lang/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Language/data/iana languages (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Language/data/iana regions (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Language/data/iana scripts (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Language/data/iana suppressed scripts (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Language/data/iana variants (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Main list (view source) (semi-protected)
Module:Math (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/ambox.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:MultiReplace (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Multiple image (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Namespace detect/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/disambiguation (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/setindex (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/softredirect (view source) (protected)
Module:Political party (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Political party/A (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Module:Political party/B (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Module:Political party/C (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Module:Political party/D (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Module:Political party/G (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Module:Political party/H (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Module:Political party/I (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Module:Political party/L (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Module:Political party/M (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Module:Political party/N (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Module:Political party/O (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Module:Political party/P (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Module:Political party/S (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Module:Political party/T (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Module:Political party/U (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Module:Political party/Y (view source) (semi-protected)
Module:Political party/Z (view source) (semi-protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Module:Side box (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Side box/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:TableTools (view source) (protected)
Module:Unicode data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:WikidataIB (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:WikidataIB/nolinks (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:WikidataIB/titleformats (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wikitext Parsing (view source) (protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to 2003 Israeli legislative election.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Israeli_legislative_election"