1977 Israeli legislative election

1977 Israeli legislative election

← 1973 17 May 1977 1981 →
All 120 seats in the Knesset 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 ninth Knesset. For the first time in Israeli political history, the right wing, led by Likud, won a plurality of seats, ending almost 30 years of rule by the left-wing Alignment and its predecessor, Mapai. The dramatic shift in Israeli politics caused by the outcome led to it becoming known as "the revolution" (Hebrew: המהפך, HaMahapakh), a phrase coined by TV anchor Haim Yavin when he announced the election results live on television with the words "Ladies and gentlemen—a revolution!" (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]