Editing The Greens (Israel) (section)

==History==
The Greens were established in 1997.<ref>[http://en.idi.org.il/tools-and-data/israeli-elections-and-parties/political-parties/greens/ The Greens] Israel Democracy Institute</ref> In the [[1999 Israeli general election|1999 Knesset elections]] the party received 0.4% of the vote, failing to win a seat. They received the same share of the vote in the [[2003 Israeli legislative election|2003 elections]].

In the [[2006 Israeli legislative election|2006 elections]], the party received 47,595 votes (1.52%). However, it was not enough to pass the 2% threshold, and they were ultimately the largest party not to obtain seats in the Knesset ([[Balad (political party)|Balad]], with 72,066 votes, was the smallest party to obtain seats). Had the electoral threshold not been raised from 1.5% in 2003, they would have won seats.

Substantial gains in the [[2008 Israeli municipal elections|2008 municipal elections]] saw the Greens win over 50 seats across 22 municipalities. In [[Haifa]], where former Green candidate [[Yona Yahav]] was re-elected for a second mayoral term, the Greens won four seats, while in [[Tel Aviv]], where Green Party chair [[Pe'er Visner]] was deputy mayor, the Greens won three seats.<ref>{{cite web |date=12 November 2008 |url=http://www.green-party.co.il/news/archives/3358 |title=מפלגת הירוקים ירתה את יריית הפתיחה לבחירות הארציות |language=he |trans-title=Green Party fired the opening salvo in national elections |publisher=The Greens |access-date=24 June 2015}}</ref>

The Greens campaigned intensively for the [[2009 Israeli legislative election|2009 Knesset elections]]. Some polls by a number of national newspapers had predicted that the party could win around 2–3 seats, putting Greens in the [[Knesset]] for the first time. However, a rival green party, the [[Green Movement (Israel)|Green Movement]] was established in 2008, running in alliance with [[Meimad]]. The Greens received only 0.4% of the vote, again failing to pass the electoral threshold, whilst the Green Movement and Meimad received 0.8% of the vote.

In the [[2013 Israeli legislative election|2013 elections]] the party's vote share dropped to 0.2%, and again to 0.07% in the [[2015 Israeli legislative election|2015 elections]].