Twenty-sixth government of Israel

Second Peres Cabinet

26th Cabinet of Israel
Date formed22 November 1995 (1995-11-22)
Date dissolved18 June 1996 (1996-06-18)
People and organisations
Head of stateEzer Weizman
Head of governmentShimon Peres
Member partiesLabor
Meretz
Yiud
Status in legislatureCoalition government
Opposition partyLikud
Opposition leaderBenjamin Netanyahu
History
Legislature term13th Knesset
Predecessor25th cabinet of Israel
Successor27th cabinet of Israel

The twenty-sixth government of Israel was formed by Shimon Peres of the Labor Party on 22 November 1995, following the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin on 4 November. Peres kept the same coalition as previously, namely the Labor Party, Meretz and Yiud, which together held only 58 of the 120 seats in the Knesset. However, the government was also supported, but not joined, by Hadash and the Arab Democratic Party, which held an additional five seats between them.[1]

Although the Labor Party won the May 1996 Knesset elections, Peres was narrowly defeated by Binyamin Netanyahu in the country's first election for Prime Minister, meaning that the Likud leader formed the twenty-seventh government, which he completed on 18 June.