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All 120 seats in theKnesset 61 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 81.6% ( 1.2pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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Legislative elections were held in Israel on 3 November 1959 to elect the 120 members of the fourthKnesset.Mapai remained the dominant party, gaining seven seats. Following the elections, Mapai leaderDavid Ben-Gurion formedninth government on 17 December 1959. His coalition included the National Religious Party, Mapam, Ahdut HaAvoda, the Progressive Party and the threeIsraeli Arab parties, Progress and Development, Cooperation and Brotherhood and Agriculture and Development. The government had 16 ministers. Mapai'sKadish Luz became theSpeaker of the Knesset.
Voter turnout was 81.6%.[1]
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
| Mapai | 370,585 | 38.23 | 47 | +7 | |
| Herut | 130,515 | 13.46 | 17 | +2 | |
| National Religious Party | 95,581 | 9.86 | 12 | +1 | |
| Mapam | 69,468 | 7.17 | 9 | 0 | |
| General Zionists | 59,700 | 6.16 | 8 | −5 | |
| Ahdut HaAvoda | 58,043 | 5.99 | 7 | −3 | |
| Religious Torah Front | 45,569 | 4.70 | 6 | 0 | |
| Progressive Party | 44,889 | 4.63 | 6 | +1 | |
| Maki | 27,374 | 2.82 | 3 | −3 | |
| Progress and Development | 12,347 | 1.27 | 2 | New | |
| Cooperation and Brotherhood | 11,104 | 1.15 | 2 | New | |
| Agriculture and Development | 10,902 | 1.12 | 1 | 0 | |
| Union of North African Immigrants | 8,199 | 0.85 | 0 | New | |
| Progress and Work | 4,651 | 0.48 | 0 | −2 | |
| Independent Faction for Israeli Arabs | 3,818 | 0.39 | 0 | New | |
| Israeli Arab Labour Party | 3,369 | 0.35 | 0 | New | |
| Sephardi National Party | 3,133 | 0.32 | 0 | New | |
| National Union | 2,456 | 0.25 | 0 | 0 | |
| Holocaust Handicapped and Injured Faction | 1,765 | 0.18 | 0 | New | |
| Yemenite Faction | 1,711 | 0.18 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independents | 1,611 | 0.17 | 0 | New | |
| Socialist Union (Bund) | 1,322 | 0.14 | 0 | New | |
| New Immigrants Front | 631 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 | |
| Third Power | 594 | 0.06 | 0 | New | |
| Total | 969,337 | 100.00 | 120 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 969,337 | 97.49 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 24,967 | 2.51 | |||
| Total votes | 994,304 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 1,218,483 | 81.60 | |||
| Source:IDI, Nohlenet al. | |||||
The government collapsed when Ben-Gurion resigned on 31 January 1961, over amotion of no-confidence brought by Herut and the General Zionists in the wake of theLavon Affair. When Ben-Gurion was unable to form a new governmentnew elections were called. Serving one year and nine months, the fourth Knesset was the shortest Knesset term until the five-monthtwenty-first Knesset in 2019.
