The general election held on the last day of 1973 indicated a breakthrough for the Likud which attained approximately 30 per cent of the vote compared with Labour’s 40 per cent. Together with the NRP, Menahem Begin could count on forty-nine seats compared with Labour’s fifty-one. Although Golda Meir could expect support from the Left and the liberals, Labour did not have a blocking majority of sixty-one without relying on the Communist, haredi and Arab parties. The central committee of the NRP, which was mired in bitter dispute between its factions, voted narrowly to remain within the Labour-led coalition, but this eventually took months to implement.