Jeremy's Knesset Insider

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud Party won the Jerusalem District with 24.8% of the 2015 vote, which gave them about 2.5 of the 30 seats they won nationally. The Ashkenazi ultra-orthodox UTJ Party won second place in the Jerusalem District with 19.6% of the vote, which gave them close to two of the six seats they won in the 2015 election. The Sephardic ultra-orthodox Shas finished in third place with 11.3%, which made up over a seat of their seven. Opposition Leader Herzog’s Zionist Union came in fourth with 10.9% of the vote and can claim one of their 24 seats as a Jerusalem District seat. Minister Naftali Bennett’s Bayit Yehudi was fifth with 8.1%. The ultra-nationalist Yachad party, which did not pass the threshold, finished sixth with 6.6%. Together UTJ and Shas won 30.9% of the Jerusalem District vote.

The Jerusalem District Vote represented about 9.9 seats with a voter turnout of 67.1%. The turnout was lower than the national average of 72.3%. The Jerusalem District is divided into three designations: Two Cities (Jerusalem, Bet Shemesh), three Local Councils-Towns (Mevaseret Tzion, Abu Gosh, Kiryat Ye’arim), and the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council.

Party-By-Party Breakdown

Likud: Likud finished first in the district with 24.8%, above their national average of 23.4%. In 2013 the Likud-Beitenu ticket had 21% in Jerusalem and Likud without Beitenu went up to 24.24% in 2015. Likud finished first in Jerusalem, Mevaseret Tzion and the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. Within Mateh Yehuda Likud finished first in 29 of the 39 Moshavim and the town of Gizo.

UTJ: UTJ won about a third of their votes with 19.6% of the Jerusalem district. Without this district the party would be under the 3.25% threshold as their national average was just 4.99%. Besides an impressive showing in Jerusalem, UTJ won in Bet Shemesh and Kiryat Yearim.

Shas: Shas was third in the district with 11.3%. However, it is difficult to look at this district as a success because Shas dropped in Jerusalem from 16% to 11.98% over the last election and in Bet Shemesh from 18% to 14.35%. This is one of the few districts where a loss for Shas leader Aryeh Deri can easily be attributed to Yachad leader Eli Yishai’s gain.

Zionist Union: Herzog and Livni took 10.9% of the district vote compared to their 18.67% national average. Despite poor numbers Zionist Union did have a few bright spots such as winning seven of the eight kibbutzim in the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. Zionist Union also recorded ten victories in moshavim and finished first in the towns of Tzur Hadasah, Srigim, Motza Illit and Nataf.

Bayit Yehudi: Bayit Yehudi finished fifth in the Jerusalem District with 8.1%. In the city of Jerusalem Bayit Yehudi dropped from 12% to 8.33%. In Bet Shemesh they dropped from 14% to 9%. Bayit Yehudi won the town of Nehusa.

Yachad: Eli Yishai’s breakaway party caused real damage to Shas in the Jerusalem District. Shas lost over 4% in Jerusalem alone. Yachad picked up 6.6% of the Jerusalem District vote compared to his national average of 2.97%.

Kulanu: Kahlon’s new party took 4.8% of the Jerusalem District vote. Kulanu finished third among the 39 Mateh Yehuda moshavim and fifth among the eight Mateh Yehuda kibbutzim.

Yesh Atid: Support for Lapid’s party dropped considerably in the Jerusalem District, and the party fell out of the top-five to eighth place with 4.6% of the vote compared to their national average of 8.82%. Lapid dropped from 18% to 10% in Mevasseret Tzion, 7% to 4.21% in Jerusalem and 4% to 2.6% in Bet Shemesh. Yesh Atid finished third overall in Mateh Yehuda.

Meretz: Meretz’s 4.1% in the Jerusalem district is actually slightly better than their national average of 3.93%. Meretz finished fourth in Mateh Yehuda, second in Kibbutzim, and won first place in the town of Nahson.

Yisrael Beitenu: Avigdor Liberman’s party finished tenth in the Jerusalem District with 2.4%, considerably lower than his 5.1% national average. 77% of their district vote came from Jerusalem itself.

The Joint Arab List: The Joint Arab List took 1.9% of the district vote. They won in Abu Gosh and three villages in Mateh Yehuda – Ein Naqquba, Ein Rafa and Neve Shalom. Neve Shalom is a mixed village with an Arab majority. Jerusalem, Abu Gosh, Ein Naqqubam, Ein Rafa and Neve Shalom contributed 98.1% of The Joint Arab List’s Jerusalem District vote.

Others: Green Leaf won 0.7% of the vote for twelfth place. Haredi Women, the other Arab List and the Nach Nach Party each earned 0.1% of the vote. Greens, Perech, Pirates, Demactura, Nivcheret, Schirut, Or, Kalkala, Tikva L’Shinui and Manhigut parties all received less than 0.1% of the vote.

Journalists: Please credit and/or link to the information if you choose to use it. I am happy to give additional insight if requested to do so.

Link: Judea and Samaira (West Bank) District Report and Data:

https://knessetjeremy.com/2015/09/08/the-settler-vote-2015-the-most-comprehensive-report-and-data-on-judea-and-samaria-west-bank-district/