electionstracker

Israel 1988 legislative election

What was the result of the 1988 legislative election in Israel?

Likud won 40 of 120 seats with 31.1% of the vote. 79.7% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Israel
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Likud won 40 of 120 seats with 31.1% of the vote; 79.7% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 0.9 points on 1984.

  • Likud 40 −1 seat 31.1% −0.8 points
  • Alignment / Labor 39 −5 seats 30.0% −4.9 points
  • Shas 6 +2 seats 4.7% +1.6 points
  • Agudat Yisrael 5 +3 seats 4.5% +2.8 points
  • Ratz 5 +2 seats 4.3% +1.9 points
  • National Religious Party / The Jewish Home 5 +1 seat 3.9% +0.4 points
  • New Communist List / Democratic Front 4 0 seats 3.7% +0.3 points
  • Tehiya 3 −2 seats 3.1% −0.9 points
  • Mapam 3 2.5%
  • Tzomet 2 2.0%
  • Moledet 2 1.9%
  • Shinui 2 −1 seat 1.7% −1.0 points
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Israel 1984 legislative election, party by party.

61 of 120 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 31.1%

    Share of the vote won by Likud

    Likud won 40 of 120 seats. A majority needs 61.

  2. +3 seats

    Seats gained by Agudat Yisrael

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1984. Alignment / Labor lost 5 seats.

  3. 79.7%

    Voter turnout

    Up 0.9 points on 1984.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Likud40−131.1−0.8709,305
Alignment / Labor39−530.0−4.9685,363
Shas6+24.7+1.6107,709
Agudat Yisrael5+34.5+2.8102,714
Ratz5+24.3+1.997,513
National Religious Party / The Jewish Home5+13.9+0.489,720
New Communist List / Democratic Front403.7+0.384,032
Tehiya3−23.1−0.970,730
Mapam32.556,345
Tzomet22.045,489
Moledet21.944,174
Shinui2−11.7−1.039,538
The other parties and groups
PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Banner of the Torah21.534,279
Progressive List for Peace1−11.5−0.333,695
Arab Democratic Party11.227,012
Largest party without seats000.70.016,674

± is the change against the Israel 1984 legislative election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Likud 709,305
  • Alignment / Labor 685,363
  • Shas 107,709
  • Agudat Yisrael 102,714
  • Ratz 97,513
  • National Religious Party / The Jewish Home 89,720
  • New Communist List / Democratic Front 84,032
  • Tehiya 70,730
  • Mapam 56,345
  • Tzomet 45,489
  • Moledet 44,174
  • Shinui 39,538
  • Banner of the Torah 34,279
  • Progressive List for Peace 33,695
  • Arab Democratic Party 27,012
  • Largest party without seats 16,674

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

79.7% of the 2,894,267 registered voters cast a ballot (2,305,567 ballots), up 0.9 points on 1984. 2,283,123 of them were valid votes. The highest turnout since 1969 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Likud31.1% of votes33.3% of seats
  • Alignment / Labor30.0% of votes32.5% of seats
  • Shas4.7% of votes5.0% of seats
  • Agudat Yisrael4.5% of votes4.2% of seats
  • Ratz4.3% of votes4.2% of seats
  • National Religious Party / The Jewish Home3.9% of votes4.2% of seats
  • New Communist List / Democratic Front3.7% of votes3.3% of seats
  • Tehiya3.1% of votes2.5% of seats
  • Mapam2.5% of votes2.5% of seats
  • Tzomet2.0% of votes1.7% of seats
  • Moledet1.9% of votes1.7% of seats
  • Shinui1.7% of votes1.7% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 2.6 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 5.0 by votes and 4.4 by seats; Likud led Alignment / Labor by 1.1 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of