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The Knesset

הכנסת
الكنيست
25th Knesset
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Amir Ohana, Likud
since 29 December 2022
Benjamin Netanyahu, Likud
since 29 December 2022
Yair Lapid, Yesh Atid
since 2 January 2023[1]
Structure
Seats120
Political groups
Emergency Unity Government (76)

Opposition (44)

Elections
Closed list proportional representation
D'Hondt method
Last election
1 November 2022
Next election
By 27 October 2026[2]
Meeting place
Knesset, Givat Ram, Jerusalem
Website
Official website Edit this at Wikidata
Political System of Israel

The Knesset (Hebrew: הַכְּנֶסֶת, romanizedHaKnesset [haˈkneset] lit.'gathering, assembly', Arabic: الكنيست, romanizedAl-Kinisit) is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus, with the exception of checks and balances from the courts and local governments, has total control over the entirety of the Israeli government.

The Knesset passes all laws, elects the president[3] and prime minister[4] (although the former is ceremonially appointed by the Prime Minister), approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government, among other things. In addition, the Knesset elects the state comptroller. It also has the power to waive the immunity of its members, remove the president and the state comptroller from office, dissolve the government in a constructive vote of no confidence, and to dissolve itself and call new elections. The prime minister may also dissolve the Knesset. However, until an election is completed, the Knesset maintains authority in its current composition.[5] The Knesset meets in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.

Members of the Knesset are elected nationwide through proportional representation.

Name

The term "Knesset" is derived from the ancient Knesset HaGdola (Hebrew: כְּנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה) or "Great Assembly", which according to Jewish tradition was an assembly of 120 scribes, sages, and prophets, in the period from the end of the Biblical prophets to the time of the development of Rabbinic Judaism – about two centuries ending c. 200 BCE.[6] There is, however, no organisational continuity and aside from the number of members, there is little similarity, as the ancient Knesset was a religious, completely unelected body. Members of the Knesset are known in Hebrew as חֲבֵר הַכְּנֶסֶת (Haver HaKnesset), if male, or חַבְרַת הַכְּנֶסֶת (Havrat HaKnesset), if female.

History

The Knesset first convened on 14 February 1949 in Jerusalem following the 20 January elections, replacing the Provisional State Council which acted as Israel's official legislature from its date of independence on 14 May 1948 and succeeding the Assembly of Representatives that had functioned as the Jewish community's representative body during the Mandate era.[7]Before the construction of its current location, the Knesset met in Tel Aviv,[7] before moving to the Froumine building in Jerusalem.[8]

The Knesset compound sits on a hilltop in western Jerusalem in a district known as Sheikh Badr before the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, now Givat Ram. The main building was financed by James de Rothschild as a gift to the State of Israel in his will and was completed in 1966. It was built on land leased from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.[9] Over the years, significant additions to the structure were constructed, however, these were built at levels below and behind the main 1966 structure as not to detract from the original assembly building's appearance.

Despite numerous motions of no confidence being tabled in the Knesset, a government has only been defeated by one once,[10] when Yitzhak Shamir's government was brought down on 15 March 1990 as part of a plot that became known as "the dirty trick".

However, several governments have resigned as a result of no-confidence motions, even when they were not defeated. These include the fifth government, which fell after Prime Minister Moshe Sharett resigned in June 1955 following the abstention of the General Zionists (part of the governing coalition) during a vote of no-confidence;[11] the ninth government, which fell after Prime Minister Ben-Gurion resigned in January 1961 over a motion of no-confidence on the Lavon Affair;[12] and the seventeenth government, which resigned in December 1976 after the National Religious Party (part of the governing coalition) abstained in a motion of no-confidence against the government.

Timeline

The Knesset in winter
  • 14 February 1949: First meeting of the Constituent Assembly, Jewish Agency, Jerusalem
  • 16 February 1949: Name "Knesset" approved for the Constituent Assembly; number of members fixed at 120; the Knesset starts convening in Tel Aviv (first as at what is now the Opera Tower, later at the San Remo Hotel in Tel Aviv)[13]
  • 26 December 1949 – 8 March 1950: Knesset moved to Jerusalem; first convened at the Jewish Agency building
  • 13 March 1950: Knesset moved to the Froumine House, in King George Street, Jerusalem[13]
  • 1950–1955: Israeli government holds architectural competitions for the permanent Knesset building. Ossip Klarwein's original design won the competition
  • 1955: Government approves plans to build the Knesset in its current location
  • 1957: James de Rothschild informs Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion of his desire to finance the construction of the building
  • 14 October 1958: Cornerstone-laying for new Knesset building
  • 30 August 1966: Dedication of new building (during the sixth Knesset)
  • 1981: Construction of new wing begins
  • 1992: New wing opens
  • 2001: Construction starts on a large new wing that essentially doubles the overall floorspace of the Knesset compound.
  • 2007: New large wing opens
Historic engraving on the Froumine House, King George St., Jerusalem

Government duties

As the legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the president, approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government through its committees. It also has the power to waive the immunity of its members, remove the president and the State Comptroller from office, and to dissolve itself and call new elections.

The Knesset has de jure parliamentary supremacy, and can pass any law by a simple majority, even one that might arguably conflict with the Basic Laws of Israel, unless the basic law includes specific conditions for its modification; in accordance with a plan adopted in 1950, the Basic Laws can be adopted and amended by the Knesset, acting in its capacity as a Constituent Assembly.[14] The Knesset itself is regulated by a Basic Law called "Basic Law: the Knesset".

In addition to the absence of a formal constitution, and with no Basic Law thus far being adopted which formally grants a power of judicial review to the judiciary, the Supreme Court of Israel has since the early 1990s asserted its authority, when sitting as the High Court of Justice, to invalidate provisions of Knesset laws it has found to be inconsistent with Basic Law.[14] The Knesset is presided over by a Speaker and Deputy Speakers, called the Knesset Presidium, which currently consists of:[15]

Position Name Faction Party
Speaker Amir Ohana Likud Likud
Deputy Nissim Vaturi Likud Likud
Deputy Moshe Tur-Paz Yesh Atid Yesh Atid
Deputy Uriel Buso Shas Shas
Deputy Yisrael Eichler United Torah Judaism Agudat Yisrael
Deputy Yifat Shasha-Biton National Unity Party New Hope

Knesset committees

Knesset committees amend bills on various appropriate subjects. Knesset members are assigned to committees, while chairpersons are chosen by their members, on recommendation of the House Committee, and their factional composition represents that of the Knesset itself. Committees may elect sub-committees and delegate powers to them, or establish joint committees for issues concerning more than one committee. To further their deliberations, they invite non-voting people, like government ministers, senior officials, and experts in the matter being discussed. Committees may request explanations and information from any relevant ministers in any matter within their competence, and the ministers or persons appointed by them must provide the explanation or information requested.[5]

There are four types of committees in the Knesset. Permanent committees amend proposed legislation dealing with their area of expertise, and may initiate legislation. However, such legislation may only deal with Basic Laws and laws dealing with the Knesset, elections to the Knesset, Knesset members, or the State Comptroller. Special committees function in a similar manner to permanent committees, but are appointed to deal with particular manners at hand, and can be dissolved or turned into permanent committees. Parliamentary inquiry committees are appointed by the plenum to deal with issues viewed as having special national importance. In addition, there are two types of committees that convene only when needed: the Interpretations Committee, made up of the Speaker and eight members chosen by the House Committee, deals with appeals against the interpretation given by the Speaker during a sitting of the plenum to the Knesset rules of procedure or precedents, and Public Committees, established to deal with issues that are connected to the Knesset.[16][17]

Permanent committees:

  • House Committee
  • Finance Committee
  • Economic Affairs Committee
  • Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee
  • Interior and Environment Committee
  • Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs Committee
  • Education, Culture, and Sports Committee
  • Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee
  • Labour, Welfare, and Health Committee
  • Science and Technology Committee
  • State Control Committee
  • Committee on the Status of Women

Special committees:

The other committees are the Arrangements Committee and the Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee is responsible for jurisdiction over Knesset members who violate the rules of ethics of the Knesset, or are involved in illegal activities outside the Knesset. Within the framework of responsibility, the Ethics Committee may place various sanctions on a member, but is not allowed to restrict a member's right to vote. The Arrangements Committee proposes the makeup of the permanent committees following each election, as well as suggesting committee chairs, lays down the sitting arrangements of political parties in the Knesset, and the distribution of offices in the Knesset building to members and parties.[18]

Caucuses

Knesset members often join in formal or informal groups known as "lobbies" or "caucuses", to advocate for a particular topic. There are hundreds of such caucuses in the Knesset. The Knesset Christian Allies Caucus and the Knesset Land of Israel Caucus are two of the largest and most active caucuses.[19][20]

Membership

Knesset building (2007)
The Knesset and its surroundings (2022)

The Knesset numbers 120 members, after the size of the Great Assembly. The subject of Knesset membership has often been a cause for proposed reforms. Under the Norwegian Law, Knesset members who are appointed to ministerial positions are allowed to resign and allow the next person on their party's list to take their seat. If they leave the cabinet, they are able to return to the Knesset to take the place of their replacement.

Knesset elections

The 120 members of the Knesset (MKs)[21] are popularly elected from a single nationwide electoral district to concurrent four-year terms, subject to calls for early elections (which are quite common). All Israeli citizens 18 years or older may vote in legislative elections, which are conducted by secret ballot.

Knesset seats are allocated among the various parties using the D'Hondt method of party list proportional representation. A party or electoral alliance must pass the election threshold of 3.25%[22] of the overall vote to be allocated a Knesset seat. Parties select their candidates using a closed list. Thus, voters select the party of their choice, not any specific candidate.

The electoral threshold was previously set at 1% from 1949 to 1992, then 1.5% from 1992 to 2003, and then 2% until March 2014 when the current threshold of 3.25% was passed (effective with elections for the 20th Knesset).[23] As a result of the low threshold, a typical Knesset has 10 or more factions represented. With so many parties, it is nearly impossible for one party or faction to govern alone, let alone win a majority.[citation needed] No party or faction has ever won the 61 seats necessary for a majority; the closest being the 56 seats won by the Alignment in the 1969 elections[24] (the Alignment had briefly held 63 seats going into the 1969 elections after being formed shortly beforehand by the merger of several parties, the only occasion on which any party or faction has ever held a majority).[25] Every Israeli government has been a coalition of two or more parties.[citation needed]

After an election, the president meets with the leaders of every party that won Knesset seats and asks them to recommend which party leader should form the government. The president then nominates the party leader who is most likely to command the support of a majority in the Knesset (though not necessarily the leader of the largest party/faction in the chamber). The prime minister-designate has 42 days to put together a viable coalition (extensions can be granted and often are), and then must win a vote of confidence in the Knesset before taking office.[citation needed]

The following is a list of Knesset elections:

Current composition

The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 25th Knesset.

Name Ideology Symbol Primary demographic Leader 2022 result
Votes (%) Seats
Likud Conservatism
National liberalism
Right-wing populism
מחל Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister of Israel
23.41%
32 / 120
Yesh Atid Liberal Zionism
Secularism
פה Yair Lapid
Leader of the Opposition
17.78%
24 / 120
Mafdal – Religious Zionism Religious Zionism ט Israeli settlers, Modern Orthodox and Hardal Jews Bezalel Smotrich
Minister of Finance
10.83%
7 / 120
Otzma Yehudit Kahanism Itamar Ben-Gvir
Minister of National Security
6 / 120
Noam Religious Zionism
Religious conservatism
Avi Maoz
1 / 120
National Unity Zionism כן Benny Gantz 9.08%
12 / 120
Shas Religious conservatism שס Sephardi and
Mizrahi Haredim
Aryeh Deri 8.24%
11 / 120
United Torah Judaism Religious conservatism
Haredi non-Zionism
ג Ashkenazi Haredim Yitzhak Goldknopf 5.88%
7 / 120
Yisrael Beiteinu Nationalism
Secularism
Conservatism
ל Russian-speakers Avigdor Lieberman 4.49%
6 / 120
Ra'am Islamism
Conservatism
עם Israeli Arab Sunni Muslims, Negev Bedouin Mansour Abbas 4.07%
5 / 120
Hadash–Ta'al Israeli Arab interests
Secularism
ום Israeli Arabs Ayman Odeh 3.75%
5 / 120
Labor Social democracy
Labor Zionism
Secularism
אמת Merav Michaeli 3.69%
4 / 120

Historical composition

  Maki
  Mapam
  Mapai
  Others
  Herut
  Mafdal
  PAI
1949
4 19 46 2 5 7 3 4 16 14
1951
5 15 45 5 4 20 3 2 8 8 3 2
1955
6 9 10 40 5 5 13 15 11 6
1959
3 9 7 47 5 6 8 17 12 6
1961
5 9 8 42 4 17 17 12 4 2
  Maki / Moked / Sheli
  Mapam
  Ratz
  Rafi
  Shinui
  Dash
  Others
  Mada
  Gahal
  Likud
  Shas
  Tzomet
  Mafdal
  Tami
  PAI
  Tehiya
1965
1 3 8 4 45 10 5 1 26 11 4 2
1969
1 3 4 56 4 4 4 26 12 4 2
1973
1 4 3 3 51 4 39 10 5
1977
2 5 1 1 32 1 15 3 43 12 4 1
1981
4 1 47 2 2 48 6 3 4 3
1984
4 3 44 3 9 41 4 1 4 1 2 4
1988
4 3 5 39 2 3 1 40 6 2 5 5 3 2
  Balad
  Meretz
  Labour
  Hatnua
  Shinui
  B&W
  Kadima
  Gil
  Others
  Center
  Kulanu
  Mada / Ra'am
  Likud
  Shas
  Tzomet
  UTJ
  Mafdal
  URWP / Yamina
1992
3 12 44 2 32 6 8 4 6 3
1996
4 1 9 34 4 4 7 32 10 4 9 2
1999
3 2 2 10 26 6 6 5 4 6 19 17 5 5 4
2003
3 3 3 6 19 15 2 2 38 11 5 6 7
2006
3 3 5 19 29 7 4 11 12 12 6 3 6
2009
4 3 3 13 28 4 15 27 11 5 3 4
2013
4 3 6 15 6 19 2 4 13 18 11 7 12
2015
13 5 18 5 11 1 10 6 30 7 6 8
2019.04
6 2 4 6 35 4 2 5 35 8 8 5
2019.09
13 5 6 33 8 32 9 7 7
2020
15 3 3 33 1 7 36 9 7 6
2021
6 6 7 8 17 4 6 7 30 9 7 7 6
2022
5 4 24 12 5 6 32 11 7 14

Knesset assemblies

Each Knesset session is known by its election number. Thus the Knesset elected by Israel's first election in 1949 is known as the First Knesset. The current Knesset, elected in 2022, is the Twenty-fifth Knesset.

Tourism

The Knesset holds morning tours in Hebrew, Arabic, English, French, Spanish, German, and Russian on Sunday and Thursday, and there are also live session viewing times on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings.[26]

Security

A member of the Knesset Guard

The Knesset is protected by the Knesset Guard, a protective security unit responsible for the security of the Knesset building and Knesset members. Guards are stationed outside the building to provide armed protection, and ushers are stationed inside to maintain order. The Knesset Guard also plays a ceremonial role, participating in state ceremonies, which includes greeting dignitaries on Mount Herzl on the eve of Israeli Independence Day.

Public perception

A poll conducted by the Israeli Democracy Institute in April and May 2014 showed that while a majority of both Jews and Arabs in Israel are proud to be citizens of the country, both groups share a distrust of Israel's government, including the Knesset. Almost three quarters of Israelis surveyed said corruption in Israel's political leadership was either "widespread or somewhat prevalent". A majority of both Arabs and Jews trusted the Israel Defense Forces, the President of Israel, and the Supreme Court of Israel, but Jews and Arabs reported similar levels of mistrust, with little more than a third of each group claiming confidence in the Knesset.[27]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Leader of the Opposition". Knesset=access-date=15 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Israel's Lunar Calendar Causes Confusion Over Knesset's Term of Office". Haaretz. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Basic Law - The President of the State (1964), article 3". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  4. ^ "Basic Law - The Government (2001)". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  5. ^ a b The Knesset. Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  6. ^ Synagogue, The Great (Heb. כְּנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה, Keneset ha-Gedolah) Jewish Virtual Library
  7. ^ a b "Knesset - History". knesset.gov.il. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  8. ^ Beit Froumine. Knesset.gov.il (30 August 1966). Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  9. ^ Defacement in Jerusalem monastery threatens diplomatic crisis Haaretz, 8 October 2006
  10. ^ The Plenum - Motions of No-Confidence Knesset website
  11. ^ Factional and Government Make-Up of the Second Knesset Knesset website
  12. ^ Factional and Government Make-Up of the Fourth Knesset Knesset website
  13. ^ a b "The Knesset's Anniversary". main.knesset.gov.il. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Basic Laws - Introduction". Knesset. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
  15. ^ Key Roles in the (25th) Knesset, Knesset website
  16. ^ Legislation. Knesset.gov.il. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  17. ^ Knesset Committees. Knesset.gov.il. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  18. ^ The Organisation of the Work of the Knesset. Knesset.gov.il (17 February 2003). Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  19. ^ "Lobbies of the Twentieth Knesset". knesset.gov.
  20. ^ Ahren, Raphael (11 June 2013). "Coalition chief heading caucus that seeks to retain entire West Bank". The Times of Israel. Knesset caucuses, sometimes called lobbies, are informal groups of parliamentarians that gather around a certain cause or topic. There are hundreds of such caucuses, but the one Levin and Strock now head is one of the largest – if not the largest, with 20–30 members in the last Knesset – and most active.
  21. ^ "All 120 incoming Knesset members". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  22. ^ www.knesset.gov.il
  23. ^ Lis, Jonathan (12 March 2014). "Israel raises electoral threshold to 3.25 percent". Haaretz. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  24. ^ "1969 Election". Israel Democracy Institute (in Hebrew). Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  25. ^ "להקים מחדש את "המערך"". www.israelhayom.co.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  26. ^ Knesset Times to Visit. Knesset.gov.il. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  27. ^ Pileggi, Tamar (4 January 2015). "Tamar Pileggi 'Jews and Arabs proud to be Israeli, distrust government: Poll conducted before war shows marked rise in support for state among Arabs; religious establishment scores low on trust'". The Times of Israel.

External links

31°46′36″N 35°12′19″E / 31.77667°N 35.20528°E / 31.77667; 35.20528