1996 Israeli general election

1996 Israeli general election
29 May 1996
Prime ministerial election
 
Candidate Benjamin Netanyahu Shimon Peres
Party Likud Labor
Popular vote 1,501,023 1,471,566
Percentage 50.50% 49.50%
Prime Minister before election

Shimon Peres
Labor Party

 Prime Minister after election

Benjamin Netanyahu
Likud

Knesset election
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
Labor Shimon Peres 26.83 34 −10
Likud–Gesher–Tzomet Benjamin Netanyahu 25.14 32 −8
Shas Aryeh Deri 8.51 10 +4
Mafdal Zevulun Hammer 7.87 9 +3
Meretz Yossi Sarid 7.41 9 −3
Yisrael BaAliyah Natan Sharansky 5.73 7 New
Hadash–Balad Hashem Mahameed 4.24 5 +2
UTJ Meir Porush 3.23 4 0
Third Way Avigdor Kahalani 3.16 4 New
Ra'am–Mada Abdulmalik Dehamshe 2.93 4 +2
Moledet Rehavam Ze'evi 2.36 2 −1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Speaker of the Knesset before Speaker of the Knesset after
Shevah Weiss
Labor		 Dan Tichon
Likud

General elections were held in Israel on 29 May 1996. For the first time, the prime minister was elected on a separate ballot from the remaining members of the Knesset.

The elections for prime minister resulted in a surprise victory for Benjamin Netanyahu, by a margin of 29,457 votes, less than 1% of the total number of votes cast, and much smaller than the number of spoiled votes. This came after the initial exit polls had predicted a Shimon Peres win, spawning the phrase "went to sleep with Peres, woke up with Netanyahu". Although Peres lost the prime ministerial vote – his fourth and last defeat as Labor leader – Labor emerged as the largest party in the Knesset, winning two more seats than the Likud–Gesher–Tzomet alliance.

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