This appendix presents estimates of a group's share of the total electorate of Israel. This is because non-Jews (such as Arab Israelis) became part of the electorate with Israel's statehood, which means that party vote shares include Arab votes. Consequently, in order to compare apples with apples when evaluating party success, a party's share of the vote must be compared to a group's share of the total (not just the Jewish) electorate. Nevertheless, I usually also provide estimates of a group's share of the Jewish electorate, as well as estimates of a group's share of the population (both total and Jewish). The data discussed in this appendix is used in Chapters 5, 6, and 8.

SEPHARDIM

THE SEPHARDIM AS A WHOLE

Table B.1 presents three estimates of the Sephardi share of the total Israeli population and the total Israeli electorate for each election year: a conservative estimate, a generous estimate, and a middle-of-the-road estimate. In parentheses, it also presents equivalent estimates of the Sephardi share of the Jewish population and the Jewish electorate.

These estimates are all derived from Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) publications, most notably from the yearly Statistical Abstract of Israel, which has been published since 1949. These publications in turn draw upon state record-keeping enterprises such as the Population Registration of November 8, 1948 and the May/June 1961 census. Sephardi is defined as those non-Arabs (usually Jews—see the following discussion) who have African or Asian origin, as discussed in the text.