ABSTRACT
The accepted wisdom among political analysts in Israel is that the decision to vote for a particular party is the result of a voter's position in the social structure. Israeli voters display patterns of electoral stability and change much like those in other democracies. Numerous studies have demonstrated that Israeli Jews of the same ethnic group and class usually share policy preferences and voting choices; the same has been held to be true of Israelis of similar levels of religiosity. Israeli Jewish voters can be grouped into three broad categories. These categories include those who voted for the Likud, the right or the religious parties, those who voted for Labor, the left or other parties, and those who were undecided or did not vote. There is a large disparity between Israel's social cleavages and its political divisions. The analysis of electoral behavior in Israel requires panel data.
