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ELECTIONS IN ISRAEL<br />
General elections in Israel will be held on 22 January 2013.<br />
They will determine the 120 new members of the 19th<br />
Knesset, Israel's parliament.<br />
For more Information, have a look at:<br />
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs: www.mfa.gov.il<br />
The Knesset: www.knesset.gov.il<br />
The Central Elections Committee: www.tinyurl.com/b35c7dw
A PARLIAMENTARY<br />
DEMOCRACY<br />
ISRAEL IS A UNICAMERAL<br />
PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY<br />
BASED ON SEPARATE<br />
LEGISLATIVE (THE KNESSET),<br />
EXECUTIVE (THE<br />
GOVERNMENT) AND JUDICIAL<br />
BODIES<br />
VOTERS<br />
President:<br />
Israel's head of state is its<br />
President. The Knesset elects<br />
the President. While the<br />
President has many official<br />
duties, it is largely an apolitical<br />
ceremonial position.<br />
Judiciary:<br />
Israel has an independent and<br />
professional judicial system.<br />
The Supreme Court, the head<br />
of the judicial pyramid, is the<br />
authorized interpreter of<br />
Knesset laws.<br />
LEGISLATURE:<br />
The Knesset, Israel's<br />
parliament, has 120 members.<br />
It enacts laws, supervises the<br />
work of the government and<br />
has some quasi-judicial<br />
functions.<br />
Executive:<br />
The Prime Minister heads the<br />
government. The President<br />
chooses the PM from the<br />
Knesset members after the<br />
elections. The PM then<br />
appoints the ministers in his<br />
cabinet.<br />
The system is based on the principle of separation of powers, in which the executive branch (the<br />
government) is subject to the confidence of the legislative branch (the Knesset) and the independence<br />
of the judiciary is guaranteed by law.
ISRAEL'S<br />
ELECTION<br />
PROCESS<br />
Elections<br />
are by secret<br />
ballot.<br />
The entire<br />
country constitutes a<br />
single electoral<br />
constituency. Candidates<br />
represent national parties,<br />
not electoral districts or<br />
local constituencies.<br />
The Knesset,<br />
the Israeli<br />
parliament, is elected<br />
directly by the voters,<br />
not through a body<br />
of electors.<br />
Every Israeli<br />
citizen aged 18 or<br />
older on election day<br />
has the right to vote.<br />
All votes<br />
cast are equal<br />
in weight.<br />
The 120 Knesset<br />
seats are assigned in<br />
proportion to each<br />
party's percentage of the<br />
total national vote. The<br />
minimum required<br />
threshold is 2%.<br />
KNESSET ELECTIONS<br />
ARE BASED ON A<br />
VOTE FOR A PARTY<br />
AND NOT FOR<br />
INDIVIDUALS.
ELECTION<br />
DAY<br />
Free public transportation is<br />
available to voters who happen<br />
to be outside their polling<br />
districts on this day. Special<br />
arrangements are made to allow<br />
soldiers on active duty, hospital<br />
patients, prison inmates and the<br />
disabled to vote.<br />
ELECTION DAY IS A HOLIDAY IN ORDER<br />
TO ENABLE ALL POTENTIAL VOTERS TO<br />
PARTICIPATE.<br />
WHO CAN VOTE?<br />
WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR ELECTED OFFICE?<br />
Every citizen aged 21 or older is eligible for<br />
election to the Knesset, unless they are<br />
excluded by a legal exception.<br />
Every Israeli citizen<br />
who has reached the<br />
age of 18 on election<br />
day.<br />
Israelis of all ethnic<br />
groups and religious<br />
beliefs, including<br />
Arab-Israelis,<br />
participate in the<br />
process.<br />
The Israeli voting<br />
method is<br />
user-friendly, even<br />
to voters with<br />
limited knowledge<br />
of Hebrew or<br />
Arabic.<br />
Voters select a slip<br />
of paper that<br />
represents their<br />
chosen party, put<br />
the slip in an<br />
envelope and then<br />
place the envelope<br />
in the ballot box.
CAMPAIGN<br />
FINANCING<br />
The State of Israel covers most of the parties' budgets.<br />
Only a small fraction of party financing originates from<br />
other sources.<br />
A treasury allocation for election campaigns is granted to<br />
the parties. Each party receives an equal basic allocation.<br />
Parties who win seats in the new Knesset and/or had<br />
members serving in the outgoing Knesset receive extra<br />
funds.<br />
In the last elections in February 2009, the treasury paid<br />
out 160 million shekels (approximately USD 38 million) in<br />
party financing.<br />
The law concerning non-public<br />
financing - such as contributions and<br />
membership dues - is extremely strict<br />
and limits the amounts that<br />
contributors may donate.<br />
Every party<br />
receives an allotment<br />
of television and radio<br />
advertising minutes, which is<br />
provided free of charge. It is<br />
prohibited to purchase<br />
broadcasting time for<br />
election advertising above<br />
that allotment.
PARTIES<br />
COMPETING LISTS OF THE UPCOMING<br />
19 TH KNESSET ELECTIONS<br />
Party Name<br />
PARTY NAMES IN BOLD LETTERS STAND FOR<br />
PARTIES REPRESENTED IN THE PREVIOUS KNESSET.<br />
Chairperson<br />
New<br />
Am Shalem<br />
Brit Olam Legeulat Yisrael<br />
Chaim Bekavod<br />
Da-am - Workers Party<br />
Dor Bonei Haaretz<br />
Eretz Hadasha<br />
Green Leaf - Liberal List<br />
Habayit Hayehudi<br />
Hadash - Democratic Front for Peace and Equality<br />
Hatenua<br />
Hatikva Leshinui<br />
Hayisraelim<br />
Israel Labor Party<br />
Kadima<br />
Koach Lehashpia<br />
Kulanu Haverim<br />
Light<br />
Likud Yisrael Beitenu<br />
Meretz - Israel's Left<br />
Mitkademet Liberalit Democratit<br />
Moreshet Avot<br />
National Democratic Assembly (Balad)<br />
Netzach<br />
One Future - fighting the new drug<br />
Otzma Leyisrael<br />
Shas<br />
The Economics Party<br />
The Green and Young for a Green Future in Israel<br />
The Pirates<br />
Tzedek Hevrati<br />
United Arab List - Arab Mov’t for Renewal - Arab Democratic Party<br />
United Torah Judaism<br />
We are Brothers<br />
Yesh Atid<br />
Rabbi Chaim Amsallem<br />
Ofer Lifschitz<br />
Ruth Danino<br />
Asama Agvaria<br />
Efraim Lapid<br />
Eldad Yaniv & Rani Blair<br />
Yaron Lerman<br />
Naftali Bennet<br />
Mohammad Barakeh<br />
Tzipi Livni<br />
Aataf Kariawai<br />
David Cone<br />
Shelly Yachimovich<br />
Shaul Mofaz<br />
Aryeh Samarly<br />
Sharon Knafu<br />
Yaron Yadan<br />
Benyamin Netanyahu<br />
Zahava Galon<br />
Alexander Radko<br />
Yar-Zanbar, Ilan Meshicha<br />
Jamal Zahalka<br />
Haim Epstein<br />
Yehezkel Shtelzer<br />
Arieh Eldad & Michael Ben-Ari<br />
Eliyahu Yishai<br />
Yulia Shamalov Berkovich<br />
Amir Meltzer<br />
Shem Tov, Ohad Yaakov<br />
Gad Haran<br />
Ibrahim Sarsur<br />
Yakov Litzman<br />
David Ababa<br />
Yair Lapid<br />
PARTY LISTS ELECTED, OUT OF THE TOTAL THAT COMPETED IN PREVIOUS ELECTIONS:<br />
30<br />
20<br />
Knesset No_<br />
12<br />
1<br />
15<br />
2<br />
12<br />
3<br />
12<br />
4<br />
11<br />
5<br />
13<br />
6<br />
12<br />
7<br />
9<br />
8<br />
13<br />
9<br />
10<br />
10<br />
15<br />
11<br />
15<br />
12<br />
10<br />
13<br />
11<br />
14<br />
15<br />
15<br />
13<br />
16<br />
12<br />
17<br />
12<br />
18<br />
10<br />
Number of<br />
lists elected
THE FIRST KNESSET 1949<br />
ELECTIONS FOR THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY WERE HELD ON 25 JANUARY 1949, ABOUT EIGHT MONTHS AFTER<br />
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY BECAME THE FIRST KNESSET.<br />
Herut<br />
Yemenite Association<br />
WIZO<br />
Fighters' List<br />
Maki<br />
Mapam<br />
Sephardim & Oriental Communities<br />
Democratic List of Nazareth<br />
United Religious Front<br />
In the first national elections,<br />
86.9% of eligible voters cast<br />
their votes (434,864 out of<br />
506,567). The number of<br />
votes needed for a Knesset<br />
seat was 3,592. However, the<br />
minimum threshold for a party<br />
to be represented in the<br />
Knesset was 1% of the total<br />
votes, which in 1949 came to<br />
4,346 votes.<br />
The Knesset took its<br />
name and fixed its<br />
membership at 120 from<br />
“the Knesset<br />
Hagedolah” (the Great<br />
Assembly), which<br />
convened in Jerusalem<br />
after the return of the<br />
Jews from the<br />
Babylonian exile in the<br />
fifth century B.C.E.<br />
General Zionists<br />
Progressive Party<br />
Mapai
THE 18 TH KNESSET<br />
2009-2013<br />
Balad<br />
United Arab List/AMR/ADP<br />
Hadash<br />
Meretz<br />
Labor Party<br />
National Union<br />
Habayit Hayehudi<br />
Yisrael Beiteinu<br />
In the last national elections,<br />
64.7% of eligible voters cast their<br />
votes (3,373,490 out of 5,278,985).<br />
The number of votes needed for a<br />
Knesset seat was 27,246. However,<br />
the minimum threshold for a party to<br />
be represented in the Knesset was 2%<br />
of the total votes, which in 2009 came<br />
to 67,470 votes.<br />
Kadima<br />
United Torah Judaism<br />
Likud<br />
Shas
FORMING THE<br />
GOVERNMENT<br />
After the elections, the President<br />
assigns the task of forming the<br />
government to a Knesset member. This<br />
Knesset member is usually the leader<br />
of the largest party or the head of a<br />
coalition of 60+ members. The chosen<br />
Knesset member has up to 42 days to<br />
form the new government.<br />
When a<br />
government has<br />
been formed, the<br />
Prime Minister<br />
announces its<br />
composition, the<br />
basic guidelines of<br />
its policy and the<br />
office each<br />
minister will hold.<br />
If that Knesset member is<br />
not successful, the President<br />
may choose another Knesset<br />
member. She/he has 28 days<br />
to form a government.<br />
THE PROPOSED GOVERNMENT IS INSTALLED WHEN AT<br />
LEAST 61 OF THE 120 KNESSET MEMBERS EXPRESS THEIR<br />
CONFIDENCE.<br />
So far, no single party has won 61 seats and every Israel<br />
government to date has been based on a coalition of several<br />
parties.
ISRAEL’S PRIME MINISTERS<br />
THE PRIME MINISTER IS SELECTED FROM AMONG THE KNESSET MEMBERS.<br />
THE PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL CHOOSES THE KNESSET MEMBER CONSIDERED TO HAVE THE BEST CHANCE OF FORMING A VIABLE COALITION GOVERNMENT.<br />
IN 1996 AND 1999, ISRAEL HAD DIRECT ELECTIONS FOR PRIME MINISTER. THE DIRECT ELECTIONS LAW WAS RESCINDED IN 2001.<br />
DAVID BEN-GURION<br />
Terms of office: 1948-1953 and1955-1963<br />
MOSHE SHARETT<br />
Term of office: 1954-1955<br />
LEVI ESHKOL<br />
Term of office: 1963-1969<br />
GOLDA MEIR<br />
Term of office: 1969-1974<br />
MENACHEM BEGIN<br />
Term of office: 1977-1983<br />
YITZHAK SHAMIR<br />
Terms of office: 1983-1984 and 1986-1992<br />
YITZHAK RABIN<br />
Terms of office: 1974-1977 and 1992-1995<br />
SHIMON PERES<br />
Terms of office: 1984-1986 and 1995-1996<br />
EHUD BARAK<br />
Term of office: 1999-2001<br />
ARIEL SHARON<br />
Term of office: 2001-2006<br />
EHUD OLMERT<br />
Term of office: 2006-2009<br />
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU<br />
Terms of office: 1996-1999 and 2009-2013
KNESSET COMMITTEES<br />
This is only a partial list. The Knesset has many other committees and<br />
This is only a partial list. The Knesset has many other committees and<br />
sub-committees dealing with a range range of additional issues.<br />
Public Petitions Committee<br />
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee<br />
Internal Affairs and Environment Committee<br />
Committee for Immigration, Absorption and<br />
Diaspora Affairs<br />
Committee on Drug Abuse<br />
Committee on the Status of Women<br />
Labor, Welfare and Health Committee<br />
Committee on the Rights of the Child<br />
Constitution, Law and Justice Committee<br />
Economic Affairs Committee<br />
Science and Technology Committee<br />
Ethics Committee<br />
Education, Culture, and Sports Committee