Israel - Political background

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 of 29 November 1947 called for the partition of the British mandated territory of Palestine into a Jewish and a Palestinian Arab state. The Jews in the territory accepted the resolution; the Arabs did not. On 14 May 1948, when the last British troops left the country, Jewish leaders proclaimed an independent State of Israel while local Arabs joined with the armies of five Arab countries in an effort to destroy the new Jewish entity. Israel defended itself successfully and in consequence of the 1949 armistice agreements extended its control to the area within the so-called Green Line. Transjordan annexed the West Bank, and Egypt administered the Gaza Strip; the Palestinian Arab state never came into existence. Many Palestinian Arabs fled the country during the 1948 war and were prevented from returning afterwards.

In its Proclamation of Independence, Israel defined one of its missions to be the ingathering of Jews from all over the world to return to their historic homeland. In the first years after the state was established, more than a million Jews, survivors of the Nazi Holocaust and refugees from Arab and other countries, came to settle in the new Jewish state. Israel faced the difficult task of integrating so many people of widely divergent backgrounds into a single society, while at the same time defending itself against neighbors who did not recognize its legitimacy.

Israel's leaders chose to accomplish these tasks through a multiparty parliamentary democracy. At least once every four years, citizens over 18 years of age cast a ballot for one of the country's numerous political parties vying for seats in the 120-member Knesset (parliament). The seats are allocated in proportion to the number of votes received by each party. After the 28 January 2003 elections, 13 parties won Knesset seats. The party that received the largest number of votes, the Likud Party, was awarded 38 seats. Other parties winning seats were Labor (19), Shinui (15), Shas (11), National Union (7), Meretz (6), National Religious Party (6), United Torah Judaism (5), Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (3), One Nation (3), National Democratic Alliance (3), YBA (2), and United Arab List (2).

Reform legislation introduced in 1996 decreed that, instead of being chosen by the Knesset, the prime minister would be elected directly by the voters. In May 1999 Ehud Barak of the Labor Party became prime minister. Ariel Sharon agreed to serve as chair of the Likud Party faction, whose goal was to take over power in the next election. On 2 March 2001, after winning 62% of the vote, Ariel Sharon succeeded Barak as prime minister. That month, the Knesset voted to restore the one-vote parliamentary system operating before 1996. The law went into effect with the 28 January 2003 election, which was won by Likud. Ariel Sharon was chosen prime minister once again.