Assembly of Representatives election, 1944

Elections to the Assembly of Representatives were held in Mandatory Palestine on 2 August 1944.^[1] Just over 200,000 Jewish residents voted, more than 70% of all those eligible to vote. This compared with just over 50,000 who voted at the previous elections in 1931. The difference reflected the high level of Jewish immigration to Palestine in the 1930s and 1940s.

Campaign

A total of 24 parties contested the elections, nominating 1,694 candidates.^[1] However, the Revisionist-Zionist Hatzohar party, Sephardic Jews, the General Zionist Group “B” and the Jewish Farmers Association boycotted the elections.^[2]

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Mapai	73,122	36.85	64
Left Bloc (Hashomer Hatzair–Poale Zion Left)	24,582	12.39	21
New Aliyah Party	21,279	10.72	19
Hapoel HaMizrachi	18,748	9.45	16
Ahdut HaAvoda	17,928	9.04	16
Mizrachi	6,513	3.28	7
Yemenite Association	5,019	2.53	4
Democratic Centre	4,704	2.37	4
Women's International Zionist Organization	4,314	2.17	4
Palestine Communist Party	3,780	1.90	3
Maccabi	3,718	1.87	3
HaOved HaTzioni	3,685	1.86	3
Independent Religious List	3,118	1.57	2
Merchants	1,673	0.84	2
People's Movement for a Jewish State	1,418	0.71	1
Mizrachi Women	1,217	0.61	1
Yemenite Workers	957	0.48	1
HaOved HaDati	790	0.40	0
Discharged Soldiers and Families	666	0.34	0
Oriental Religious Group	543	0.27	1
Young Men of Aden	264	0.13	0
Bnei HaYishuv	240	0.12	0
National Workers Front	118	0.06	0
Religious Women Workers	30	0.02	1
Invalid/blank votes	2,455	–	–
Total	200,881	100	173
Source: Palestine Post

Around 80% of the elected Assembly members supported the Biltmore Declaration, which demanded the creation of a "Jewish Commonwealth" after World War II.^[2]

References

1. American Jewish Yearbook 1945-46 p460
2. Final Results of Palestine Elections Announced; Laborite Groups Form Majority Jewish Telegraph Agency, 10 August 1944