Israeli-Arab candidate Azmi Bishara, of the Balad-National…

Israeli-Arab candidate Azmi Bishara, of the Balad-National Democratic Assembly, withdraws from the five-sided prime ministerial race, followed in quick succession by Begin and Mordechai, on May 15, 1999, two days before the election.

Mordechai endorses Barak; Begin refuses to do the same for Netanyahu.

The result is a landslide victory for Barak by 56.08% to 43.92% (1,791,020 votes to 1,402,474).

Netanyahu immediately resigns as Likud Party leader and is succeeded by the outgoing foreign minister, Ariel Sharon.

The election produces an even more fractured Knesset than the one three years earlier; smaller parties increase their seats, with no fewer than fifteen parties winning seats.

Whereas in 1992, under the old, purely parliamentary system, the two largest parties had between them won seventy-six of the one hundred and twenty seats, by 1999 they can command only forty-five.

The One Israel coalition wins the most seats in the Knesset, while Likud, beset by infighting and a stalled economy, is second.

The real surprise of the election is the sudden growth of Shas, which now commands the third-largest number of seats.

The election results are seen as a turning away from the hard-line policies, particularly in relations with the Palestinians, pursued by Netanyahu.