1977 Israeli legislative election

← 1973 17 May 1977 1981 →
All 120 seats in theKnesset 61 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	79.23% ( 0.65pp)
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– Likud Menachem Begin 33.41 43 +4 Alignment Shimon Peres 24.60 32 −19 Dash Yigael Yadin 11.57 15 New Mafdal Yosef Burg 9.20 12 +2 Hadash Meir Vilner 4.58 5 +1 Agudat Yisrael Yehuda Meir Abramowicz 3.36 4 +2 Flatto-Sharon Shmuel Flatto-Sharon 2.01 1 New Shlomtzion Ariel Sharon 1.94 2 New Sheli Aryeh Eliav 1.56 2 +1 United Arab List Seif el-Din el-Zoubi 1.38 1 −2 PAI Kalman Kahana 1.35 1 −1 Ratz Shulamit Aloni 1.18 1 −2 Independent Liberals Gideon Hausner 1.17 1 −3 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Yitzhak Rabin Alignment Menachem Begin Likud

Legislative elections were held in Israel on 17 May 1977 to elect the ninthKnesset. For the first time in Israeli political history, the right wing, led byLikud, won a plurality of seats, ending almost 30 years of rule by the left-wingAlignment and its predecessor,Mapai. The dramatic shift in Israeli politics caused by the outcome led to it becoming known as "the turnaround" (Hebrew: המהפך,HaMahapakh), a phrase coined by TV anchorHaim Yavin when he announced the election results live on television with the words "Ladies and gentlemen—a turnaround!" (Hebrew: !גבירותי ורבותי—מהפך,Gvirotai veRabotai—Mahapakh!). The election saw the beginning of a period lasting almost two decades where the left- and right-wing blocs held roughly equal numbers of seats in the Knesset.

Voter turnout was 79%.^[1]

The Alignment was re-elected inDecember 1973, following theYom Kippur War, but continued in-fighting andinvestigation into Israel's preparedness led to the resignations ofPrime MinisterGolda Meir andMinister of Defense,Moshe Dayan the following April. This led to a power struggle between formerChief of Staff and Ambassador to the United StatesYitzhak Rabin andTransportation MinisterShimon Peres. Rabin was elected by the party by a small margin; it was felt that the Labor Party (the major faction of the Alignment) needed a candidate untouched by the disastrous war. Rabin formed a new government on 3 June 1974, and presided uneasily over a quarrelsome coalition, with Shimon Peres as Defense Minister; their bitter feud dates from this period.^[2]

During the mid-1970s, American Secretary of StateHenry Kissinger sought to progress a peace deal between Israel and the Arab countries. TheSinai Interim Agreement was signed on 4 September 1975 following a threatened'reassessment' of the United States' regional policy and its relations with Israel. Rabin notes it was "an innocent-sounding term that heralded one of the worst periods in American–Israeli relations."^[3] Despite progress on the Egyptian front, settlement activity in theWest Bank increased with support from Peres and someNational Religious Party members.

General strikes and protests on 30 March 1976 turned violent. Six unarmed demonstrators were killed by the IDF and police.^[4] At least 100 Arabs were wounded and many others jailed.^[5] The event is commemorated annually asLand Day. Despite Arab MKs being brought into the government as Deputy Ministers for the first time in the early 1970s, support for the traditional Arab political parties such asProgress and Development and theArab List for Bedouins and Villagers, which were aligned with Mapai and the Alignment, was on the wane, as they were replaced by independent Arab parties, such as theUnited Arab List formed in 1977 by former members of Alignment-allied parties.

Inflation had been an issue for the government since the start of the 1970s, and worsened after theoil crisis that followed theYom Kippur War. To try and cope with the issue, Rabin's government had devalued thepound by around 50% during its term in office.

Several corruption scandals also affected the government. TheYadlin affair of 1976 involvedAsher Yadlin, a major fundraiser for theLabor Party (the major faction of the Alignment) and head of theKupat Holim health-insurance program,^[6] who in September that year was about to be appointed Governor of theBank of Israel. However, after Yadlin was detained by police, on 24 October the cabinet decided to appoint Arnon Gafni instead. In mid-December Yadlin was charged with taking bribes totallingIL280,000, as well as other offences, and was remanded in custody until his trial.^[7] On 14 March 1977, Yadlin pleaded guilty to some of the charges, involving bribes totalling IL124,000, but claimed that he had handed over IL80,000 of the money to Labor Party funds, adding that he had raised "millions" for the party. The judge did not accept his claim and sentenced him to five years' imprisonment and a fine of IL250,000.

The Yadlin affair also broughtMinister of HousingAvraham Ofer to the police's attention. In November 1976,Yigal Laviv, a correspondent of the weeklyHaOlam HaZeh who had also been involved in airing the charges against Yadlin, gave the police information on 30 different matters raising suspicions of offences committed by Ofer, including allegations of embezzlement in Shikun Ovdim funds in favour of the party. The police examined Laviv's charges, but came to the conclusion toward the end of the year that they were not substantiated, leading Ofer to expect that an official statement clearing him would soon be made. However, Attorney GeneralAharon Barak decided to prosecute. On 31 December, however, a witness in the Yadlin affair sent the police a statement which raised more questions for investigation, and various rumours were published about possible charges. On 2 January, Rabin and Justice MinisterHaim Yosef Zadok assured Ofer that everything possible would be done to expedite the inquiry.^[8] On 3 January 1977 his body was found in his car on aTel Aviv beach. In a suicide note Ofer said he was innocent, but did not have the strength "to bear any more." He was reported to have been particularly depressed by the lack of support from his political associates.^[8]

Towards the end of 1976, Rabin's coalition with theNational Religious Party suffered a crisis: a motion of no confidence had been brought byAgudat Yisrael over a breach of theSabbath on an Israeli Air Force base, when fourF-15 jets were delivered from the US, and the NRP had abstained from the vote. Rabin dissolved his government on 22 December 1976 and decided on new elections, which were to be held in May 1977.

The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the8th Knesset.

Internal elections were held in the Labor Party on 23 February 1977, in which Rabin beat Peres by 1,445 votes to 1,404. However, on 15 MarchHaaretz reported that Rabin and his wife,Leah, held a US Dollar bank account, then illegal under Israeli law. Although Leah claimed responsibility, theDollar Account affair, as it became known, resulted in Rabin's resignation from head of the Alignment list on 8 April, and his replacement as head of the Alignment list by Peres.

Although polls suggested that Likud may win a historic victory, party leaderMenachem Begin suffered a heart attack shortly before the election, and did not participate in the campaign. The Likud campaign leading up to the election had centred on Begin's personality. Demonized by the Alignment as totalitarian and extremist, his self-portrayal as a humble and pious leader struck a chord with many who felt abandoned by the ruling party's ideology, particularly the predominantlyMizrahi working class living in urban neighbourhoods and peripheral towns.

On 2 November 1976, former Chief of StaffYigael Yadin announced the formation of a new party to be called Democrats - Change, later renamed theDemocratic Movement for Change, known by its Hebrew acronym,Dash. It consisted of several liberal movements (includingShinui), together with numerous public figures, includingAmnon Rubinstein,Shmuel Tamir,Meir Amit,Meir Zorea and several other business leaders and academics, as well as some Israeli Arabs.

Within a few weeks the party had 37,000 members, and it became the first party to holdprimary elections to choose its Knesset list.

TheLeft Camp of Israel was formed before the elections by the merger ofMeri,Moked, theIndependent Socialist Faction and some members of theBlack Panthers. The United Arab List had been formed by former members of the Alignment-allied Arab parties.

BusinessmanShmuel Flatto-Sharon formedhis own list (named after himself). Barely speaking Hebrew, Flatto-Sharon was hoping to be elected to the Knesset to avoid extradition to France, where he had been charged with embezzling $60 million.^[9] The list ran onright-wing populism (he was a supporter of theGush Emunim settlement movement) and promises to provide apartments to young voters. Ultimately the list won enough votes for two seats, but only took one.Ariel Sharon, who had left Likud in 1975 to serve as an advisor to Rabin, formed a new partyShlomtzion, whilstMarcia Freedman, formerly aRatz MK had formed theWomen's Party.

The Flatto-Sharon list won enough votes for two seats, butonly had one candidate. Its second seat was reallocated to the National Religious Party instead.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Likud	583,968	33.41	43	+4
	Alignment	430,023	24.60	32	−19
	Democratic Movement for Change	202,265	11.57	15	New
	National Religious Party	160,787	9.20	12	+2
	Hadash	80,118	4.58	5	+1
	Agudat Yisrael	58,652	3.36	4	+1
	Flatto-Sharon	35,049	2.01	1	New
	Shlomtzion	33,947	1.94	2	New
	Left Camp of Israel	27,281	1.56	2	+1
	United Arab List	24,185	1.38	1	−1
	Poalei Agudat Yisrael	23,571	1.35	1	−1
	Ratz	20,621	1.18	1	−2
	Independent Liberals	20,384	1.17	1	−3
	Movement for the Renewal of Social Zionism	14,516	0.83	0	New
	Beit Yisrael	9,505	0.54	0	New
	Arab Reform Movement	5,695	0.33	0	New
	Women's Party	5,674	0.32	0	New
	Kach	4,396	0.25	0	0
	Hofesh	2,498	0.14	0	New
	New Generation	1,802	0.10	0	New
	Zionist Panthers	1,798	0.10	0	New
	Do Kiyum BeTzedek	1,085	0.06	0	New
Total		1,747,820	100.00	120	0
Valid votes		1,747,820	98.65
Invalid/blank votes		23,906	1.35
Total votes		1,771,726	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,236,293	79.23
Source:IDI, Nohlenet al.

Likud's Menachem Begin formed the country'seighteenth government on 20 June 1977; the coalition initially included theNational Religious Party,Agudat Yisrael andShlomtzion, which soon merged into Likud. This ended the historic alliance between religious parties and the previously dominant left-wing bloc, and initiated a period of alliance between religious parties and the right-wing bloc (later known asNational camp). The cabinet also includedMoshe Dayan, formerly of the Alignment, as Foreign Minister; this resulted in Dayan's expulsion from the Labor party and he formed the short-livedTelem party.

Begin kept four ministerial portfolios empty (Communications, Justice, Labour and Social Welfare and Transportation), hoping to persuade Dash to join the government. This was achieved on 24 October, with Yadin being appointedDeputy Prime Minister. However, the coalition commanded a majority without the votes of Dash members, and the party collapsed after less than a year, splitting into three factions on 14 September 1978; seven MKs foundedShinui, seven founded theDemocratic Movement andAssaf Yaguri foundedYa'ad. The Democratic Movement later split up when three MKs foundedAhva andYigael Yadin,Binyamin Halevi,Mordechai Elgrably andShmuel Tamir left to sit as independents, whileZeidan Atashi andDavid Golomb defected from Shinui to the Alignment. Two Ahva MKs later left the faction; Shafik Assad to join Telem andAkiva Nof to join Likud.

TheCamp David Accords and theEgypt–Israel peace treaty which resulted in an Israeli withdrawal fromSinai led toTehiya andOne Israel breaking away from Likud. Begin relied on opposition votes to pass the treaty in the Knesset as several party members, including future Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon andYitzhak Shamir objected to it and abstained from voting. Three Likud MKs broke away to formRafi – National List; one later returned, while the other two joined Moshe Dayan's new Telem party. Other defections includedSaadia Marciano leaving the Left Camp of Israel and formed theUnity Party with independent MK, Mordechai Elgrably and Yosef Tamir defecting from Likud to Shinui, before sitting as an independent.

During the Knesset term, United Arab List MKHamad Abu Rabia was assassinated by the sons of party rivalJabr Moade after Abu Rabia allegedly refused to give up his seat as had been decided in a rotation agreement. Despite his sons' actions, Moade replaced Abu Rabia in the Knesset.

• List of members of the ninth Knesset

• Historical overview of the Ninth Knesset Knesset website(in English)
• Factional and Government Make-Up of the Ninth Knesset Knesset website(in English)

• 1977 elections in Israel
• Legislative elections in Israel
• May 1977 in Asia
• Menachem Begin
• 1977 elections in Asia
• Shimon Peres
• Ariel Sharon

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