1999 Israeli general election

In the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, although the Likud government had negotiated the Wye River Memorandum and it had passed the Knesset overwhelmingly in November 1998, subsequent negotiations with the Palestinians were going badly. The lack of progress had alienated support for the government on the left, as well as on its right. The left claimed negotiations were moving too slowly, while the more extreme right were unhappy with the contemplated territorial concessions included in the memorandum itself.

The Likud–Gesher–Tzomet alliance had fallen apart, with more members leaving Likud to set up Herut – The National Movement and the Centre Party.

Netanyahu's government finally gave up the ghost due to difficulties in passing the state budget and in January 1999 passed a bill calling for early elections.

Ehud Barak, the leader of the main opposition Labor Party, was Netanyahu's main challenger in this election. Before the elections, Ehud Barak's Labor Party formed an alliance with Gesher and Meimad called One Israel in the hope that a united front on the centre-left would give them enough seats to form a more stable coalition.

The rising death toll and lack of military victory in Israel's long-running occupation in south Lebanon had soured voter support for the Likud policy.

The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 14th Knesset.

Initially, three other candidates planned to run; these included: Benny Begin of Herut – The National Movement, running to the right of Likud; Azmi Bishara of the Israeli Arab Balad party, running to the left of One Israel and the first from that minority to stand for prime minister, and; Yitzhak Mordechai of the Centre Party, running on positions between those of Likud on the right and One Israel on the left.

Over the course of the campaign however, Begin, Bishara and Mordechai all dropped out of the race for prime minister, after it became clear that they could not win, and that their continued presence would cost votes for the major candidates, Barak and Netanyahu, at their respective ends of the political spectrum. The parties these other candidates represented however, continued to run in the concurrent Knesset elections. Mordechai did not withdraw until two days before the election, and after he and his party had run a series of advertisements.^[3]

Two parties, Manhigut Yehudit and Voice of the Environment, initially signed up to participate in the elections, but withdrew their candidacy before election day.

Both Meretz and Yisrael BaAliyah stressed the need to overtake Shas so that its influence on the next government would be limited. Meretz did this because of Shas's participation in Netanyahu's government, while Yisrael BaAliyah, who was also in that government, was against Shas for obstructing the citizenship process for arrivals of the 1990s post-Soviet aliyah. Yisrael BaAliyah demanded that they be given the Ministry of Interior (which oversees the citizenship process) as a pre-requisite of joining a government coalition, which Ehud Barak fulfilled after becoming Prime Minister.^[3]

Shas campaigned on resolving economic injustices towards the Mizrahi community, and protested the perceived 'excessive rights' given to Soviet migrants.^[3]

Meretz specifically attacked Shas by saying it would serve Netanyahu's needs whether it be in a left-wing or right-wing coalition, and criticised One Nation, the Greens, the Pnina Rosenblum list and Shinui for being 'one-issue parties' that siphoned off votes that Meretz needed to beat Shas.^[4] Furthermore, Meretz highlighted the need to reform marriage law and improve the situation of tenants.

Mafdal campaigned on returning 'traditional values' to Israel and attacked Meretz for wanting 'freedom from Judaism'.

Although Barak won the Prime Ministerial election comfortably, his One Israel alliance won only 26 seats, meaning he had to form a convoluted coalition with Shas, Meretz, Yisrael BaAliyah, the Centre Party, the National Religious Party and United Torah Judaism.

When Barak's government collapsed after the start of the Second Intifada and the October Israeli Arab riots in 2000, Barak called new elections for Prime Minister in the hope of winning an authoritative mandate. However, he was well-beaten by Ariel Sharon and subsequently retired from politics.

• 1999 Israeli Labor Party primary