Gil
Gil
Founded in 1996
Known in English as "The Pensioners' Party", Gil (an acronym for Gimla-ei Yisrael LaKnesset– Israel's Pensioner's for Knesset, which also means "age"), was founded by Nava Arad and Moshe Sharoni in 1996, prior to the elections for the 14th Knesset, but did not pass the electoral threshold. In the elections for the 15th Knesset (1999), the pensioners ran on a different list called Koach La'Gimlaim (Power to the Pensioners), which also failed to get a seat in the Knesset. The party did not run in the elections for the 16th Knesset (2003) but prior to the elections for the 17th Knesset (2006), it underwent a facelift and found a power base in the pensioners committees of Israel's large organizations. The party was supposed to be included in the Kadima list, but when Ariel Sharon became ill the party decided to run for the Knesset on an independent list. Rafi Eitan, former head of the Mossad, replaced Nava Arad as head of the party, which was surprisingly successful in the elections for the 17th Knesset (2006), when it received seven seats. In the elections for the 18th Knesset (2009), however, the party once again did not pass the electoral threshold.
The party's top priority was concern for pensioners. It dedicated itself to protecting pension rights, increasing the types of medication included in the basket of health services for pensioners, insuring appropriate housing, etc. The positions of its members regarding state security issues were not defined, and there is no consensus regarding those issues among members of the party
| Election Year | Votes Count | Number Of Seats | Share Of Votes | List Of Candidates | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 17,571 | - | 0.5 |
Candidates
|
|
| 2006 | 185,759 | 7 | 5.9 |
Candidates
|
Platform
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| 1996 | 14,935 | - | 0.5 |
Candidates
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Note that the lists of candidates in this table are in Hebrew.
Nava Arad, Rafi Eitan
The Pensioners Party entered the government of Ehud Olmert after the elections for the 17th Knesset. It was represented in the cabinet by Rafi Eitan (the Minister for Pensioner Affairs) and Yaakov Ben-Yizri (the Minister of Health).