Thirteenth Knesset
(1992 - 1996)
The main events during the term of the 13th
Knesset were the signing of the agreements
with the Palestinians and of the peace
treaty with Jordan, and the assassination
of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Following the elections, a government
headed by the Labor Party was
formed. Under the new government, the course of the peace
process, which the previous government had embarked upon following
the Madrid Conference, changed.
After the expulsion of 415 Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists
in December 1992, and the standstill in the Washington talks, Israel
began secret negotiations with the PLO in Norway. On September 13, 1993, the Declaration
of Principles was signed (Oslo I) regarding mutual recognition between
Israel and the PLO,
Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and Jericho and the establishment
of a Palestinian Authority.
The agreement raised a good deal of controversy in the general public
and the Knesset, but, in
a vote on a motion of no-confidence in the Knesset, brought against
the background of the Declaration on September 23, 1993, 61 MKs voted
against the motion and 50 in favor, with eight members abstaining and
one being absent.
An additional agreement, Oslo
II, was signed between Israel and the Palestinians at Taba on September
27, 1995, and, according to it, Israel agreed to withdraw from the cities
in Judea and Samaria and additional
areas, and it was agreed that elections would be held for a Palesitnian
Authority. Against the background of the Taba Agreement there was
a wave of demonstrations, some of them violent, against the government
and its policy.
At the end of a counter-demonstration, by supporters
of the peace process, which was held at Kikar Malchei Yisrael in Tel
Aviv, Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin was assassinated by Yigal Amir, a Jewish assassin who acted
independently. The traumatic event caused deep shock in the state, and
was strongly condemned by most parts of the population, despite widespread
opposition to the government's policy.
The rise in the number of the victims of terrorist
attacks performed by members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad following
the signing of the various agreements between Israel and the Palestinians
were frequently brought up in the Knesset by the opposition, especially
following the terrorist wave of February/March 1996.
The Jordanian-Israeli
Peace Agreement, which hardly raised any controversy, was signed
in the Arava on 26 October, 1994. The Agreement was approved by the
Knesset one day before the signing ceremony by a majority of 105, with
three MKs voting against and six abstaining. The future of the Golan
Heights was also at the center of the public debate, even though
no progress was made in the negotiations
with Syria.
Against the background of the Labor leaders' willingness
to withdraw from the Golan within the framework of a peace agreement
with Syria, two of its MKs - Avigdor
Kahalani and Emanuel Zissman - broke away from the Labor Party and
established the Third Way.
Against the background of the upheaval in the Histadrut,
following the Histadrut elections in May 1994, which were won by Haim
Ramon, who ran against the official Labor candidate, the Knesset enacted, after many years of abortive attempts, a National Health
Insurance Law. The new law cancelled the link between membership in
the Histadrut and membership in its health fund - Kupat Holim Klalit.
Amongst the economic issues dealt with by the 13th
Knesset were the privatization of government owned companies and the
sale of the bank shares held by the government, and the government's
intention to impose a tax on stock market eanings at the beginning of
1995.
What exemplified the debates on the budget laws during
the term of the 13th Knesset were the Filibusters introduced by members
of the opposition, when in the debate on the 1993 budget, MK Michael
Eitan (Likud) spoke
non-stop for more than ten hours. Other dramatic issues dealt with by
the Knesset were the massacre of 29 Palestinians by a Jewish doctor
at the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron; and the affair
of Rabbi Uzi Meshulam, which reopened the issue of the Yemenite children
who disappeared in the early years of the state.
A national commission of inquiry was appointed to investigate
the issue. The Knesset plenum and its committees also dealt with the
issue of violence in the family and amongst youths, and the status of
women. The introduction of primaries in th major parties to a large
extent changed the patterns of behavior of many MKs in the 13th Knesset.
Sources: The Knesset |