| Israel's Electoral System and Political Parties | |
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The Israeli Electoral System
National elections to the Knesset, Israel's parliament, are held once every four years, unless circumstances call for early elections.
The framework of the Israeli electoral system is defined in Article 4 of the Basic Law: The Knesset, which states:
"The Knesset shall be elected by general, national, direct, equal, secret and proportional elections, in accordance with the Knesset Elections Law."
- General: On election day, voters will cast one ballot for a political party to represent them in the Knesset. Every Israeli citizen aged 18 or older has the right to vote. Israelis of all ethnic groups and religious beliefs, including Arab Israelis, actively participate in the process and for many years, voting percentages have reached close to 80 percent.
- National: The entire country constitutes a single electoral constituency.
- Direct: The Knesset, the Israeli parliament, is elected directly by the voters, not through a body of electors.
- Equal: All votes cast are equal in weight.
- Secret: Elections are by secret ballot.
- Proportional: The 120 Knesset seats are assigned in proportion to each party's percentage of the total national vote. However, the minimum required for a party to win a Knesset seat is 1.5% of the total votes cast.
According to the Basic Law: The Knesset, the Central Elections Committee may prevent a candidates' list from participating in elections if its objectives or actions, expressly or by implication, include one of the following:
- negation of the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people
- negation of the democratic character of the State
- incitement to racism.
Israel's Political Parties
Knesset elections are based on a vote for a party rather than for individuals. Many political parties compete for election to the Knesset, and they each reflect a wide range of outlooks and beliefs.
Israel's major political parties include Labor, Likud, Shas, Meretz, Shinui, United Torah Judaism, National Religious Party, National Union/Yisrael Beiteinu, Yisrael Ba'aliya, and the Arab parties. Smaller parties, which may or may not win enough votes to gain a seat in the Knesset, include Gesher, Herut, Democratic Choice and One People are in doubt, and the Center Party has dispersed.
Prior to the elections, each party presents its platform, and the list of candidates for the Knesset, in order of precedence. The parties select their candidates for the Knesset in primaries or by other procedures.
Parties represented in the outgoing Knesset can automatically stand for re-election; other parties may present their candidacy by obtaining the signatures of 1,500 eligible voters and depositing a bond, which is refunded if they succeed in receiving at least 1.5 percent of the national vote, entitling them to one Knesset seat.
Knesset seats are assigned in proportion to each party's percentage of the total national vote. A party's surplus votes, which are insufficient for an additional seat, are redistributed among the various parties according to their proportional size resulting from the elections, or as agreed between parties prior to the election.
The number and order of members entering the new Knesset for each party corresponds to its list of candidates as presented for election. If a MK resigns or passes away in the course of the Knesset term, the next person on that party's list automatically replaces him/her.
Next page > [Platforms of Israel's Politcal Parties] > Page 1, 2, 3
Source: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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~ Lisa Katz
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