Gil - Gimla'ey Yisrael LaKneset

Gil - Gimla'ey Yisrael LaKneset (Hebrew: �'יל - �'ימלאי ישראל לכנסת "Gil - pensioners of Israel to the Knesset") is an Israeli pensioners' party that ran in the 2006 Elections for the 17th Knesset. The party's acronym, Gil, translates into "age" in Hebrew.

Rafi Eitan, founder of Gil

These are the top 14 (out of 16) candidates of the "Gil - Gimla'ey Yisrael LaKneset" list running for the 17th Knesset::1. Rafi Eitan:2. Yaakov Ben-Yezri:3. Moshe Sharoni:4. Yitzhak Ziv:5. Yitzhak Galanti:6. Elhanan Glazer:7. Sarah Marom:8. Ya'akov Oshri:9. Nisan Yehezkeli:10. Heftsi ba Ben-Nun:11. Nissim Sasbon:12. Gad Gafni:13. Uri Krauthamer:14. Refael Sherman

Political principles

* Commitment to protecting pension rights.
* Concern for the right to housing for Israeli pensioners.
* Enlargement of national health insurance and services for pensioners.
* Protection of traditional Jewish values
* Advancement of democratic values.

Political success

While opinion polls running up to the 2006 election indicated that Gil might break the 2% threshold needed to win seats in the Knesset, it was not considered a serious contender for a significant number of seats. However, the party achieved a surprisingly strong level of support and won 7 seats contrary to what the opinion polls indicated. It appears that more young people have in fact voted for Gil than pensioners; in Tel Aviv, nearly one in ten voters voted for the party. This may be due to a late campaign strategy - Gil encouraged voters to vote for their party rather than submit a blank ballot, the usual way to protest a vote in Israeli elections [1]. As a result of the coalition talks with Kadima, Gil agreed to become a division of the Kadima party in return for the Ministries of Pensioners Affairs and Health.

External links

* Gimla'ey Yisrael LaKneset (Pensioners Party)- official site
*All the Israeli political parties.
* "Pensioners' Party stuns everyone but themselves with seven seats" — Haaretz, March 29, 2006.