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POLITICAL PARTIES

Israel may be a small country - it has a population of less than eight million (similar to that of London) - but, by comparison with most other democracies, political parties in Israel are both numerous and fluid. In the last General Election in January 2013, there were no fewer than 34 parties. Parties are constantly changing name, splitting, combining and forming alliances and the two parties winning the most seats in the last election had not existed at the previous one.

In the 2013 election, 12 political parties secured representation in the Knesset. Only five parties won more than 10 seats and, in order of size, they are:

• Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu alliance (31 seats) - Likud is a descendant of the long-standing Herut, founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin as an alliance of right-wing and liberal parties to challenge the previous dominance of the Labor Party. Yisrael Beiteinu was founded in 1999 by former Likud member Avigdor Lieberman to create a platform for those (especially Russian immigrants) who supported a hard line in negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. The two parties combined to form a right-wing alliance in October 2012 in preparation for the election four months later.
• Yesh Atid (19 seats) - This centrist and secular party, whose name translates as 'There Is A Future', was formed by television personality Yair Lapid in April 2012.
• Israeli Labor Party (15 seats) - This party, commonly called Mifleget Ha'avoda, is a descendant of the long-standing Mapei, founded in 1968 when Mapei merged with Ahdut HaAvoda and Rafi. It is a social democratic or centre-left party and an observer member of the Socialist International.
• Bayit Yehudi (12 seats) - Known as Jewish Home in English, this party was formed in November 2008. It is an ultra-nationalist and religous Zionist party. It is pro-settler and opposed to a Palestinian state.
• Shas (11 seats) - This party was founded in 1984 to represent the interests of religiously observant Sephardic (Middle Eastern) Jews and is regarded as ultra-orthodox.

There are four other non-Arab parties and, in order of size, they are:

• United Torah Judaism (7 seats) - This is an alliance of Degel HaTorah and Agudat Israel, two small Israeli Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) political parties, which was first formed in 1992.
• Hatnuah (6 seats) - Known in English as The Movement, this is a political party headed by Tzipi Livni which was formed in late 2012 by dissidents in Kadima, a party which Livni had led until March 2012 when she lost to Shaul Mofaz. It is a centrist party that favours negotiations with the Palestinians.
• Meretz (6 seats) - This is a Zionist, social-democratic political party which was originally formed in 1992 with the union of Ratz, Mapam, and Shinui. It is a member of the Socialist International.
• Kadima (2 seats) - This party was formed in 2005 by former Likud leader Ariel Sharon as a break-away from Likud that was more centrist and liberal. After both the 2006 and 2009 elections, it was the largest party in the Knesset, but it is now the smallest party represented in the parliament.

Finally, there are three Arab political parties with representation in the Knesset: United Arab List-Ta'ai (4 seats). Hadash (4 seats), and Balad (3 seats). Collectively these parties hold 11 seats which is 9% of the total seats, but almost 20% of Israeli citizens are Arabs. This underlines that Arab voters have low turnout (less than half) and little influence in Israeli elections.

Overall the success of the new centrist Yesh Atid party has been seen as halting a long-term shift to the Right, powered by a mix of demographic and political factors. The demographic trends are the larger families of ultra-orthodox communities and the influx of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. The political factors are the failure of the peace process and a growing siege mentality.