Elections to the Assembly of Representatives of Mandatory Palestine were held on 5 January 1931.^[1] Mapai emerged as the largest party, winning 27 of the 71 seats.

Quick Facts Party, Leader ...

1931 Assembly of Representatives election

← 1925 5 January 1931 1944 →

71 seats in the Assembly of Representatives

Party Leader % Seats Mapai David Ben-Gurion 43.5% 27 Hatzohar Ze'ev Jabotinsky 16.3% 10 Sephardic Bloc Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit 4.7% 5 Mizrachi–Hapoel HaMizrachi Yehuda Leib Maimon 8.3% 5 General Zionists Peretz Bernstein 5.7% 5 Sephardic Revisionists 4.3% 5 Sephardic Workers 3.3% 4 Women's Association 3.8% 3 Yemenite Association Saadia Kobashi 3.1% 3 Poale Zion Ya'akov Zerubavel 1.8% 1 Borochov Workers 1.8% 1 Hashomer Hatzair 1.6% 1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. President of the Jewish National Council before President of the Jewish National Council after Pinhas Rutenberg Independent Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Mapai

Close

The Jewish National Council reduced the number of seats in the Assembly from 221 to 71, the same number of representatives in the ancient Great Sanhedrin. Voting was open to all naturalized Palestinian citizens who were registered as Jewish and at least 20 years old. To ensure that representation of Sephardic and Yemenite Jews would reflect their share of Palestine's Jewish population, the National Council agreed to a provision guaranteeing 17 seats to Sephardic and Yemenite candidates, irrespective of their placement on their respective parties' lists.^[2] As a result, voter choice was limited by ethnic group; Ashkenazi Jews could only vote for Ashkenazi lists, whilst Sephardic Jews and Yemenite Jews were similarly constrained.^[1]

A total of 18 lists contested the elections,^[1] which were boycotted by Agudat Yisrael in protest at women being allowed to vote and the Yishuv's approach to religious education and ritual slaughter.^[1]

Following the elections, the Assembly elected the 23-member Jewish National Council, with eleven elected from Mapai, four from the Sephardim Bloc, three from Mizrachi, three from the General Zionists and two from smaller parties.^[1] The Revisionists refused to join the Council on the basis that the Assembly had refused to pass three resolutions it presented on not taking part in the Legislative Council, overturning the decision of the Jewish Agency to take part in a round table conference or to not send members to negotiate with the British government.^[1]