2019 Elections in Israel: Avi’s Voting Guide
Avi Kessner put together a list of all the parties running for elections in Israel on April 9 this year. A kind of Guide for the Perplexed Israeli Voter. I must say that I enjoyed editing his list because I learned about parties I had never heard of. Think how boring it would be if Israel were to adopt a two-party system. I think it is funny that many Israelis think that we have a six-to-ten-party system when this year there are 47 running and more that decided not to enter the field this time but to sit out these 4 years on the side-lines. Waiting for what? Your guess is as good as mine.
Israel’s political map is interactive and dynamic, with new parties sprouting up like mushrooms after the rain. Some last, some merge with other parties, forming new new parties, others just wilt and die, and some survive in the shadows, never being heard about by more than a small number of people dedicated to whatever cause that party seeks to address. This article will resolve this last problem — never again will you be able to say you never heard that such-and-such party was running for the 21st Knesset!
Party symbols and Hebrew names come from the official election website.
The English names and dates of establishment were gleaned from party websites or Facebook pages and in some cases were only obtainable by speaking to a representative of the party because they did not think that kind of information was important to put up along with their platforms.
The Established Parties
First let’s start with the older parties, most of which are familiar to everyone. They are in order by date of establishment. Some of these parties were formed by mergers among parties that were older yet.
| Symbol | Official Name | Name | Who should vote for them |
| אמת | מפלגת העבודה בראשות אבי גבאי | Labor
(1968) |
You are center left, but really don’t like all these new parties and want to vote for the old institutions. You also think that Unions aren’t strong enough. |
| מחל | הליכוד בהנהגת בנימין נתניהו לראשות הממשלה | Likud
(1973) |
You like the status quo. You don’t mind Bibi. You don’t like change. You think the possible indictments against Bibi are a witch hunt or don’t care about the Likud leadership and trust in it as an institution. |
| ום | חד”ש – בראשות איימן עודה תע”ל – בראשות אחמד טיבי | Hadash-Taal
(1977 & 1990) |
You are a communist. |
| שס | התאחדות הספרדים שומרי תורה, תנועתו של מרן הרב עובדיה יוסף זצ”ל | Shas
(1982) |
You think the Sephardic Haredim should run the government. You also are ok with party leaders that have been in jail a couple times. |
| מרצ | מרצ – השמאל של ישראל | Meretz
(1992) |
Intersectionality is the only way forward, and Israel should remove it’s Jewish identity in any official capacity. |
| ג | יהדות התורה והשבת אגודת ישראל – דגל התורה | United Torah Judaism
(1992) |
You believe that Gedolei Hador (leading Torah scholars) should be running the government. |
| זי | מפלגת האזרחים הוותיקים | Pensioner’s party
(1990s) |
You think pensioner’s need more commitment from the government and don’t really care who makes it into the government. |
| דעם | רעם – בלד | Raam Balad
(1990 & 1996) |
You want to vote for anti-zionist Arabs but you aren’t a communist |
| ץ/ק/י/זך | דעם סולידריות ללא גבולות | Daam Solidarity Without Borders
(1996) |
You want to end Zionism and have a one state solution, and actually support globalization, but you really don’t care who makes it into the government. |
| ןן | מנהיגות חברתית | Social Leadership
(Based on the party, Moreshet Avot, 1996) |
You may want a guy with Mashiach as his middle name to be PM, but you really do not care who makes it into the government. In fact, you do care – you want this party to continue its reputation as the one that gets the least votes in any election. And you like the fact that you can find nothing out about them on the Internet. |
| ל | ישראל ביתנו בראשות אביגדור ליברמן | Yisrael Beiteinu
(1999) |
You like Liberman and what he did as defense minister, you also might like what his party has done for Olim. |
Relatively New Parties
Some of these are familiar and many are not.
| כן/זך/י | ברית עולם | Brit Olam
(2005) |
You believe that Ofer Lifshitz is the heralder of the Moshiach, and that he will redeem Israel (by separation of state and religion) and you like the idea of a Jewish-Arab party, but don’t really care who makes it into the government. |
| ךי | הציונות החדשה – מפלגת העם | New Zionist People’s Party
(2006) |
You like Zehut’s financial platform but don’t like Zehut’s security platform, but in reality, you don’t care who makes it into the government. |
| יץ/קז | אחריות למייסדים – בראשות חיים דיין | Responsibility
(2009) |
You like Hayim Dayaan but you don’t really care who makes it into the government. And you do not care that a number of different parties claim to represent the same sectors. |
| ףז/זן | הפיראטים בראשות האינטרנט פתק לשלשול | The Pirate Party
(2012) |
You believe in anarchy, and don’t really care who makes it into the government. |
| צק/זך/קנ/ | צדק חברת | Social Justice Party
(2012) |
You think we need more social justice, but don’t really care who makes it into the government. |
| ףץ/נ/ן/י | נ נח – הרשימה הממלכתית – תרימו את הראש | Na Nach
(2012) |
You want to vote for dancing nanachs (Breslavers), but don’t care who really makes it into the government. |
| ךק | התקווה לשינוי | Hope for Change
(2013) |
You want to vote for an Arab party, but aren’t an anti-zionist and don’t really care who makes it into the government. |
| ץן/ץף | אחי ישראלי בראשות עדינה בר שלום | Achi Yisraeli
(Brotherhood) (2013) |
You want to see a female-led haredi party, but don’t really care who makes it into the government. (Sorry, potential voters — this party just withdrew from the elections.) |
| זך | יחד בראשות אלי ישי | Yachad
(2014) |
Otzma isn’t far right enough for you and the United Right Party isn’t religious zionist enough for you. |
| כ | כולנו הימין השפוי בראשות משה כחלון | Kulanu
(2014) |
You like what Kahalon has done for the economy and think it’s the most important issue. You also don’t want Gantz or Lapid in the government. |
| ז/יז | זהות – תנועה ישראלית יהודית בהנהגת משה פייגלין | Zehut
(2015) |
You like Feiglin or you are an American style Libertarian. But really, you don’t care who makes it into the government. |
| ע/ר/נך | הרשימה הערבית | United Arab List
(2015) |
You want to vote for a combined Arab party that does not include the stars in Taal-Hadash or Raam-Balad. |
| ךן/ךף | אופק חדש בכבוד | New Horizon
(2015) |
You don’t really care who makes it into the government, but you like the party name and the fact that it is an Arab center party. |
| ץי | אני ואתה – מפלגת העם הישראלית בהובלת דר’ אלון גלעדי | Me and You
(2015) |
You want direct democracy and to get rid of the current form of government. You want to vote for individuals, not parties. But also, you don’t care who makes it into the current government. |
| ק/ץ | צדק לכל | Justice for All (2016) | You think PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) should run the government but don’t really care who passes the election threshold. |
| נר | גשר בראשות אורלי לוי אבקסיס | Gesher
(2016) |
You want Orly Levy Abekasis to be in the Knesset, but are ok with your votes going everywhere else as well. |
| ץז | פיתרון לעזה | Gaza solution (?) | You do not care that you can find nothing about this party on the Internet. |
| נז | זכויותינו בקולנו | Remember our Voices (?) | You think it’s really important that police and security forces employees are given the same labor and legal protections as other workers and that the police need better relationships with the community, but you also don’t really care who makes it into the government. You also believe that only this party can properly represent the transparent members of society (and none of the other parties claiming to do so can do better than them). |
And now for the new parties with old letter symbols:
| Symbol | Official Name | Name | Who should vote for them |
| פה | כחול לבן בראשות בני גנץ ויאיר לפיד | Blue and White Yesh Atid (2012) + Benny Gantz (2019) | Anyone but Bibi and you think everything about the government is corrupt, even if that means hating Haredim (Lapid seems to have backtracked a bit on this one), and aiming for only a stalemate with our enemies. |
| טב | איחוד מפלגות הימין – הבית היהודי, האיחוד הלאומי עוצמה יהודית | United Right Party (Bayit Yehudi + National Union + Otzma) | You think Religious Zionist rabbis should run the government. |
| זץ | אורן חזן בראשות צומת | Tzomet (not connected with the original Tzomet) | You like Oren Hazan, you think he got robbed in the Likud primaries, and you really don’t care who makes it into the government. |
And new parties with new letters:
| Symbol | Official Name | Name | Who should vote for them |
| נ/ינ | הימין החדש בראשות שקד ובנט | New Yamin | Likud isn’t right enough for you. You want Israel to have strong Jewish identity but not necessarily religious or orthodox. You think it’s possible to defeat our enemies and not just reach stalemates. You also like capitalism, but with social protections like in Europe. |
| נץ/זיק/קן | מגן בראשות גל הירש | Shield Party (Magen) | You like New Yamin, but would rather have Gal Hirsh lead it, and you don’t really care who makes it into the government. |
| /זן/יק | ביח”ד בראשות יום טוב סמיה | B’Yahad | You like New Yamin but would rather Yom Tov Samiah runs it, wished it was more focused on the environment, and really don’t care who enters the government. |
| ן/ףק/י | בטח – ביטחון חברתי בראשות סמיון גרפמן | Betach Party (Social Security) | You think elections are a time for everyone to set up a personal party even if their issues are already on other party platforms, and don’t really care about who makes it into the government. You might be really interested in supporting a TV show personality who helps people on his programme and thinks that gives him the expertise he needs to be in the Knesset. |
| י/נק/קנ | מפלגת ישר | Yashar New Democratic Party | You believe direct representation is now possible due to technology, and want Israel to be run as a direct democracy on all issues, but you really don’t care who makes it into the government. |
| יז/ק/ץ | קץ | The End (Also called The Bible Bloc) | You want to vote for Denis Lipkin who established the first Jewish-Christian (Evangelistic) party, but don’t really care who makes it into the government. |
| ןך/ןף | כבוד האדם | Human Dignity | You don’t really care who makes it into the government nor the fact that you cannot find information about the party on the Internet, but you like the party name. |
| נך/ח/ק/ח | מפלגת הרפורמה | The Reform Party | You don’t really care who makes it into the government, but you like the party name even if you can find nothing about them on the Internet. |
| ףנ/ץנ | שווים | Equals | You like Mirit Entebi and agree the weaker sectors of the population deserve representation, but you don’t really care who makes it into the government. And you do not care that a number of different parties claim to represent the same sectors. |
| קי/קם/ק | למען אזרחים סוג ב | Second class citizens | You think what is more important than left versus right is rich versus everyone else, the second class citizens who need extra protection. But you don’t really care who makes it into the government. And you do not care that a number of different parties claim to represent the same sectors. |
| ינ/ין/קן | איחוד בני הברית | Abrahamics United | You like Meretz but would rather it be run by Bishara Shlayan and you really don’t care who makes it into the government. |
| קן/י/ק | מהתחלה | Mehathala (Restart) | You want to trim down the government, and you like David Erez, but don’t really care who makes it into the government. |
| קף/נץ/ני/ | כל ישראל אחים ופעולה לישראל | All Israel are Brothers | You want to see an Ethiopian-led party seeking equality for all, that recently joined up with Peula Yisrael –פעולה ישראל — that works for justice for Jews from Islamic countries. |
| ףי | פשוט אהבה | Simply Love | Why can’t we all just get along? Also, you don’t really care who makes it into the government. |
| ףך | רוח גבית לחינוך | Tailwind for Education | You think the education system in Israel needs a complete overhaul with more strict standards in all schools, private and public, religious and secular, Jewish and Arab, but also, you don’t care who makes it into the current government |
Whew! There you have it! Now do you know who you are going to vote for in the 2019 election in Israel?
Add how many MKs each has now.
That would also be good to know, as would knowing how many paid-up members each party has. No time yet to do that.
Thank you so much for this post!! It was so informative. I, too, am doing a blogpost on the upcoming elections. Would you mind it if I use the chart (giving you credit, of course) for my upcoming Israeldreams.com ?
Of course, feel free to use the chart, linking to it on my website. It was put together by Avi Kessler and I edited it. Glad you found it helpful.