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Party Switching in Israel: Understanding the Split of the Labor Party in 2011

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  • Csaba Nikolenyi

Abstract

In January 2011, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak issued a surprising announcement to take four other members of his Labor Party’s Knesset faction with himself to set up a new political party, Haatzmaut (Independence). The conditions under which this split took place illustrate the ways in which the Israeli anti-defection law, passed in the 12th Knesset, incentivizes the behavior of elected legislators who seek to exit from the party that they were elected to represent. This article shows that the anti-defection law cannot keep a legislative party together that suffers from weak internal cohesion. In fact, by imposing numerical criterion (1/3) on prospective party switchers, the anti-defection law prolongs internal disunity, thereby further weakening an already low level of cohesion.

Suggested Citation

  • Csaba Nikolenyi, 2019. "Party Switching in Israel: Understanding the Split of the Labor Party in 2011," Contemporary Review of the Middle East, , vol. 6(3-4), pages 408-422, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:crmide:v:6:y:2019:i:3-4:p:408-422
    DOI: 10.1177/2347798919872843
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mershon,Carol & Shvetsova,Olga, 2013. "Party System Change in Legislatures Worldwide," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521765831.
    2. Michael Laver & Kenneth Benoit, 2003. "The Evolution of Party Systems between Elections," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(2), pages 215-233, April.
    3. Laver, Michael & Underhill, John, 1982. "The Bargaining Advantages of Combining with Others," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 27-42, January.
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