The prime minister of Israel is the head of government and chief executive of the State of Israel.
The Israeli system of government is based on parliamentary democracy. The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of government and leader of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in the Knesset. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The political system of the State of Israel and its main principles are set out in 11 Basic Laws. Israel does not have a written constitution.
The Knesset 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 president of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely a ceremonial role, with executive power vested in the cabinet led by the prime minister. The incumbent president is Isaac Herzog, who took office on 7 July 2021. Presidents are elected by the Knesset for a single seven-year term.
The shadow cabinet or shadow ministry is a feature of the Westminster system of government. It consists of a senior group of opposition spokespeople who, under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition, form an alternative cabinet to that of the government, and whose members shadow or mirror the positions of each individual member of the Cabinet. Their areas of responsibility, in parallel with the ruling party's ministries, may be referred to as a shadow portfolio. Members of a shadow cabinet have no executive power. It is the shadow cabinet's responsibility to scrutinise the policies and actions of the government, as well as to offer alternative policies. The shadow cabinet makes up the majority of the Official Opposition frontbench, as part of frontbenchers to the parliament.
Shinui was a Zionist, secular, and anti-clerical free market liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third-largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a split and collapse; in 1977, the party won 15 seats as part of the Democratic Movement for Change, but the alliance split in 1978, and Shinui was reduced to two seats at the next elections. In 2003, the party won 15 seats alone, but lost them all three years later after most of its MKs left to form new parties. The party was a member of Liberal International until 2009.
Yosef "Tommy" Lapid was a Yugoslav-born Israeli radio and television presenter, playwright, journalist, politician and government minister known for his sharp tongue and acerbic wit. Lapid headed the secular-liberal Shinui party from 1999 to 2006. He fiercely opposed the ultra-Orthodox political parties and actively sought to exclude any religious observance from the legal structure of the Israeli State. He was the father of Yair Lapid, who served as the 14th Prime Minister of Israel in 2022.
The deputies of the prime minister of Israel falls into four categories; Acting Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Vice Prime Minister and Alternate Prime Minister. Vice Prime Minister is honorary and extra-constitutional position, but entitle the office-holder to a place in the cabinet. Deputy Prime Minister, Designated Acting Prime Minister, and Alternate Prime Minister are constitutional positions.
The Cabinet of Israel exercises executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the prime minister. The composition of the government must be approved by a vote of confidence in the Knesset. Under Israeli law, the prime minister may dismiss members of the government but must do so in writing, and new appointees must be approved by the Knesset. Most ministers lead ministries, though some are ministers without portfolio. Most ministers are members of the Knesset, though only the Prime Minister and the "designated acting prime minister" are required to be Knesset members. Some ministers are also called deputy and vice-prime ministers. Unlike the designated acting prime minister, these roles have no statutory meanings. The government operates in accordance with the Basic Law. It meets on Sundays weekly in Jerusalem. There may be additional meetings if circumstances require it.
Benjamin Gantz is an Israeli politician and retired army general who has served as Minister without portfolio since 2023. Gantz also served as the Minister of Defense, between 2020 and 2022 and as deputy prime minister of Israel between 2021 and 2022. From 2020 to 2021, he was the alternate prime minister of Israel.
Constituent Assembly elections were held in newly independent Israel on 25 January 1949. Voter turnout was 86.9%. Two days after its first meeting on 14 February 1949, legislators voted to change the name of the body to the Knesset. It is known today as the First Knesset.
Progress and Development was an Arab satellite list in Israel.
The second government of Israel was formed during the first Knesset. David Ben-Gurion made an attempt to form a minority government consisting of Mapai and Sephardim and Oriental Communities on 17 October, but it was not approved by the Knesset. Two days later President Chaim Weizmann asked Progressive Party leader Pinchas Rosen to form a government, but it was Ben-Gurion who finally managed to do so on 1 November 1950. The coalition partners were the same as in the first government: Mapai, the United Religious Front, the Progressive Party, the Sephardim and Oriental Communities and the Democratic List of Nazareth.
The eighth government of Israel was formed by David Ben-Gurion on 7 January 1958, and was the second government of the third Knesset. Ben-Gurion kept the same coalition partners as during the previous government, i.e. Mapai, the National Religious Party, Mapam, Ahdut HaAvoda, the Progressive Party, the Democratic List for Israeli Arabs, Progress and Work and Agriculture and Development. The only change to the cabinet was the addition of Shlomo-Yisrael Ben-Meir as a Deputy Minister.
The fifteenth government of Israel was formed by Golda Meir on 15 December 1969 following the October elections. The government was a continuation of the national unity government formed during the previous Knesset, and consisted of the Alignment, Gahal, the National Religious Party, the Independent Liberals and the Israeli Arab parties Progress and Development and Cooperation and Brotherhood. Gahal left the coalition in early August 1970 after the government agreed to accept the Rogers Plan.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs is one of the most important ministries in the Israeli government. The ministry's role is to implement Israel's foreign policy, and promote economic, cultural, and scientific relations with other countries.
The thirty-first government of Israel was formed by Ehud Olmert on 4 May 2006, following Kadima's victory in the March elections. His coalition initially included Labor, Shas and Gil, and held 67 of the 120 seats in the Knesset. The 11-seat Yisrael Beiteinu joined the coalition in November 2006, but left on 16 January 2008 in protest at peace talks with the Palestinian National Authority. With the inclusion of the Labor Party's Raleb Majadele as a Minister without Portfolio on 29 January 2007, it became the first Israeli cabinet to have a Muslim minister. The makeup of the coalition resulted in a center-left government.
The sixteenth government of Israel was formed by Golda Meir on 10 March 1974, following the December 1973 elections. However, following Meir's resignation as Prime Minister on 11 April, it only remained in office until 3 June, and at just 85 days, was the shortest-lived government in Israeli political history.
The thirty-third government of Israel, also known as the third Netanyahu government, was formed after the 22 January 2013 Knesset elections, took office on 18 March 2013, and served until 14 May 2015. The Prime Minister was Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud; the government was a coalition of Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu, Yesh Atid, The Jewish Home, and Hatnuah.
The thirty-fourth government of Israel, also known as the Fourth Netanyahu Government, was the government of Israel, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu between 2015 and 2020. It was formed after the March 2015 Knesset election. The coalition that made up the government, consisting of Likud, United Torah Judaism, Shas, Kulanu and the Jewish Home, was submitted to the President of Israel just before the deadline on 6 May 2015. Government ministers were introduced, approved by the Knesset and sworn in on 14 May. Deputy ministers were sworn in on 19 May. On 29 December 2018, the newly formed New Right party became a coalition partner, after splitting from the Jewish Home.
