This is an election poster for Mafdal, the National Religious Party (NRP) for the 1996 Israeli elections. The provocatively designed poster, coloured in black, white, and purple, has the threatening headline: “Jerusalem Under Siege.” A map of Jerusalem, with arrows indicating its proximity to Ramallah and Bethlehem, is featured on the right-hand side of the poster. The words inside the large arrow which is pointing at the map read: “The siege of Jerusalem and the danger of partition under the ‘peace’ and autonomy agreements.” In the poster, the NRP expresses its opposition to the autonomy agreements of Oslo II entered into by Israel when Yitzhak Rabin was prime minister and to the Meretz party, claiming it is aligned with the PLO. According to the poster, the NRP was working on many projects for the benefit of Jerusalem including expanding the boundaries of the city, ensuring personal security, improving the economic situation of residents, and developing tourism and industry. The poster uses religious language, such as “holy war,” “soul,” and “eternal covenant,” which would have been understood and valued by NRP followers.
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Mafdal, the National Religious Party (NRP) – The NRP was founded in 1956. From its formation until 1967, its main concern was the relationship between religion and state. During this period, the NRP often aligned with Mapai. After the Six-Day War in 1967, the NRP took a more right-wing position, which included advocating for “Greater Israel,” i.e., a Jewish state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and a unified Jerusalem. The NRP disbanded in 2008 and ran in the 2009 elections under the name Habayit Hayehudi (the Jewish Home).
Elections in Israel – Israel is a democratic country, and general elections for the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, take place, according to the law, once every four years. The nationwide elections are based on a multi-party, proportional representation system. The legal voting age in Israel is 18, and all Israeli citizens from sectors may vote and be elected. Using voting slips with the initials of the parties, citizens vote for their preferred party and not for individual candidates. The 120 seats in the Knesset are then assigned proportionally to the parties according to the number of votes received. After the elections, the president of Israel chooses the leader of the largest party or of the party that is most likely to form a viable coalition government. This leader then forms a government, the Knesset gives it a vote of confidence, and the leader then becomes prime minister.
The 1996 Elections – The 1996 elections were the first elections with two separate ballot boxes: one for prime minister and one for the political party. Shimon Peres from the Labour party and Binyamin Netanyahu from the Likud party were both running for prime minister. The atmosphere in Israel at the time was very heavy. Rabin had been assassinated six months earlier – the tragic culmination of a large rift in Israeli society following the peace process. The security situation was also difficult, with terror attacks and conflict in northern Lebanon, leading the IDF to attack Lebanon in Operation Grapes of Wrath in an attempt to bring an end to the Hizbollah rocket attacks. The election results were surprising, with a marginal victory for Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister. Due to the new double vote system, the larger parties – Likud and Labour – lost many seats and smaller parties, such as the religious parties Shas and the NRP, were strengthened. Two new parties also gained many seats: Yisrael Be’Aliya headed by Natan Sharansky and the centralist party The Third Way. Despite the fact that Labour actually received two seats more that Likud, due to the new system of a direct vote for prime minister, Netanyahu was able to form a new Likud government.
Oslo II Accord – Oslo II, which was signed in Taba, Egypt, was an interim agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Oslo II created Areas A, B, and C in the West Bank and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Each area was defined by a different status of administration, pending a final agreement at a later date. The Accords were first signed on September 24, 1995 by Israel and the PLO in Taba and then signed again in Washington, DC by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and witnessed by US President Bill Clinton. While many Israelis supported the Oslo Accords, many others opposed the agreement. A tragic result of the opposition to Oslo II was the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin on November 4, 1995.
