Public concern in 1984 revolved largely around the war in Lebanon, which had begun in June 1981. Though Israeli troops reached all the way to Beirut, the war had not changed the regional political picture in Israel's favor. The incursion into Lebanon was extremely costly in terms of casualties as well as economically. In 1982, Christian militias carried out a massacre in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. The massacre caused an outcry in Israel because the prevailing feeling was that the government and minister of defense had not done enough to prevent it from happening. Some even accused them of having orchestrated the horror. The Cohen Commission investigated the events leading up to the massacre and brought about Ariel Sharon's demotion from the position of minister of defense. In 1983 the IDF left the Shuf Mountains and withdrew to the Awali River. The Syrians returned to Beirut and on November 4, 1983 there was a suicide bombing in an administrative building in Tyre. Sixty people were killed, including soldiers, border policemen and members of the GSS. Israeli public opposition to continued presence in Lebanon grew and there were serious doubts as to Israeli involvement in the Lebanese civil war. The Lebanon war was of enormous concern to the Israeli public and remained among the most complex of problems that needed to be resolved..

 

From the establishment of the state, every party that wished to run for the Knesset was permitted to do so. In 1965 the Socialist Party sought to run for the Knesset. Its members included people from the El Arad organization which had been banned out of fear that it aimed to compromise state security. The Central Elections Committee refused to register the Socialist Party on the grounds that it was "an illegal organization whose founders negated the unity and very existence of the State of Israel." A Supreme Court discussion yielded the principle of defensive democracy, and the list was disqualified. 

 

Yitzhak Shamir (1915-2012) was born in Poland. He was active in the Beitar youth movement and moved to Palestine in 1935. There he joined the Etzel and later founded the Lehi along with Avraham Stern. Shamir was arrested by the British in 1941 and escaped in 1942. In 1946 he was arrested again and deported to Eritrea. Once again, he escaped and made his way to France. From there, he returned to Palestine and activity in the Lehi, including involvement in the assassination of UN emissary Bernadotte.  After becoming involved for some time with the Fighters' List, he abandoned politics and joined the Mossad. In 1973 he was elected to the Knesset as a representative of the Likud and in 1980 he was appointed foreign minister. With the resignation of Menachem Begin in 1983, he took over leadership of the Likud and served as prime minister until 1984. In 1984 he led the Likud in the elections and formed a national unity government with Shimon Peres, once again assuming the foreign affairs portfolio. Following the Likud's decimation in the 1992 elections, Shamir resigned as party leader. Yitzhak Shamir died on June 20, 2012.012.

Televised propaganda played an important role in the 1984 elections. Each list received airtime on the state channel, based on their size. The new lists received a standard minimum. This arrangement spurred the formation of many small lists, eager to seize the opportunity to publicize their ideas. One of these was Has Mas, Yaakov Berger's one man party. Berger, who advocated the abolition of income tax, became known as the "lone runner".

 

In time, it was claimed that Yaakov Berger had meant to establish a satellite party to Ezer Weizmann's Yachad, and pass on the 10 minutes of airtime he was given. The arrangement was disqualified and Berger set up his party alone, using his airtime to preach abolition of income tax. His announcements included long seconds of visuals of a Bank Leumi cheque. He claimed that the inclusion of this subliminal advertising was done in exchange for the bank expunging his personal debt. Has Mas received 1,472 votes.