Twenty-third government of Israel

1988–90 government led by Yitzhak Shamir
Third Shamir Cabinet

23rd Cabinet of Israel
Date formed22 December 1988 (1988-12-22)
Date dissolved11 June 1990 (1990-06-11)
People and organisations
Head of stateChaim Herzog
Head of governmentYitzhak Shamir
Member partiesLikud
Alignment (until 15 March 1990)
Shas
National Religious Party
Agudat Yisrael
Degel HaTorah
Status in legislatureNational Unity Government
Opposition leaderShulamit Aloni
History
Election(s)1988 Israeli legislative election
Legislature term(s)12th Knesset
Predecessor22nd Cabinet of Israel
Successor24th Cabinet of Israel

The twenty-third government of Israel was formed by Yitzhak Shamir of Likud on 22 December 1988, following the November 1988 elections. The government remained a national unity coalition between Likud and the Alignment, with the National Religious Party, Shas, Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah also being members of the coalition. It was the first government to have a Minister of the Environment.

In 1990, after Shamir refused to accept a peace initiative developed by United States Secretary of State James Baker, the Alignment filed a motion of no-confidence in the government. Shamir fired all the Alignment ministers,[1] but the vote was passed by 60–55, meaning that President Chaim Herzog had to ask one of the party leaders to form a new government. It was the first, and to date, only time which a government was brought down by a no confidence motion. Herzog initially asked Alignment leader Shimon Peres to form a new government, but after Peres was unable to, turned to Shamir, who successfully formed the twenty-fourth government on 11 June. The incident became known as the dirty trick.

Cabinet members

Position Person Party
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir Likud
Acting Prime Minister Shimon Peres (until 15 March 1990) Alignment
Deputy Prime Minister David Levy Likud
Yitzhak Navon (until 15 March 1990) Alignment
Minister of Agriculture Avraham Katz-Oz (until 15 March 1990) Alignment
Minister of Communications Gad Yaacobi (until 15 March 1990) Alignment
Minister of Defense Yitzhak Rabin (until 15 March 1990) Alignment
Minister of Economics and Planning Yitzhak Moda'i Likud
Minister of Education and Culture Yitzhak Navon (until 15 March 1990) Alignment
Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Moshe Shahal (until 15 March 1990) Alignment
Minister of the Environment Roni Milo (until 7 March 1990) Likud
Rafael Edri (7–15 March 1990) Alignment
Minister of Finance Shimon Peres (until 15 March 1990) Alignment
Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Arens Likud
Minister of Health Ya'akov Tzur (until 15 March 1990) Alignment
Minister of Housing and Construction David Levy Likud
Minister of Immigrant Absorption Yitzhak Peretz Shas
Minister of Industry and Trade Ariel Sharon (until 20 February 1990) Likud
Moshe Nissim (from 20 February 1990) Likud
Minister of Internal Affairs Aryeh Deri Not an MK 1
Minister of Justice Dan Meridor Likud
Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Yitzhak Shamir (until 7 March 1990) Likud
Roni Milo (from 7 March 1990) Likud
Minister of Police Haim Bar-Lev (until 15 March 1990) Alignment
Minister of Religious Affairs Zevulun Hammer National Religious Party
Minister of Science and Development Ezer Weizman (until 15 March 1990) Alignment
Minister of Tourism Avraham Sharir Likud
Minister of Transportation Moshe Katsav Likud
Minister without Portfolio Rafael Edri (until 7 March 1990) Alignment
Moshe Nissim (until 7 March 1990) Likud
Mordechai Gur (until 15 March 1990) Alignment
Ehud Olmert Likud
Avner Shaki (from 27 December 1988) National Religious Party
David Magen Likud
Deputy Minister of Finance Yossi Beilin (until 15 March 1990) Alignment
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Binyamin Netanyahu Likud
Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Rafael Pinhasi Shas
Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Moshe Ze'ev Feldman Agudat Yisrael

1 Although Deri was not a Knesset member at the time, he was a member of Shas.

References

  1. ^ Israeli Coalition Dissolves In Fight Over Peace Plan New York Times, 14 March 1990

External links

  • Tenth Knesset: Government 23 Knesset website