IFES Election Guide - Election Profile for Israel

Election Profile:

Overview

Results

Of Interest/Links

Sources

Country: Israel
Official Name: State of Israel
Election Type: Parliamentary
Date: May 17, 1999

Source for election date

At stake in this election:

120 seats in the Knesset

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Ezer WEIZMAN *
Head of Government: Prime Minister Binyamin NETANYAHU
Assembly: Israel has a unicameral Knesset with 120 seats.

* The president in Israel is largely a ceremonial role and is elected by the Knesset.

Description of electoral system:

The President is elected by parliament to serve a 7-year term.
The Prime Minister is designated by the president to serve a 4-year term.
In the Knesset 120 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

Main parties in the electoral race:

Alliance: One Israel (Labor, Gesher, Meimad)*
Leader: Ehud BARAK
Seats won in this election: 26
Seats won in last election: 34
Party: Likud**
Leader: Binyamin NETANYAHU
Seats won in this election: 19
Seats won in last election: 32
Party: Shas
Leader: Arieh DERI
Seats won in this election: 17
Seats won in last election: 10
Party: Meretz - Democratic Israel****
Leader: Yossi SARID
Seats won in this election: 10
Seats won in last election: 9
Party: Yisrael Ba'aliya
Leader: N/A
Seats won in this election: 6
Seats won in last election: N/A
Party: Shinui
Leader: N/A
Seats won in this election: 6
Seats won in last election: N/A
Party: National Religious Party
Leader: N/A
Seats won in this election: 5
Seats won in last election: N/A
Party: United Torah Judaism
Leader: N/A
Seats won in this election: 5
Seats won in last election: N/A
Party: United Arab List
Leader: N/A
Seats won in this election: 5
Seats won in last election: N/A
Party: Other parties receiving seats (5)
Leader: N/A
Seats won in this election: 15
Seats won in last election: N/A

* The party seats won in the last election represent those of the Labor party only.
** Seats won in last election include those won in the electoral alliance with the Gesher and Tsomet parties.
**** The party seats won in the last election represent those of the Meretz party only.

Last Parliamentary election:

Elections for the Knesset and Prime Minister were last held on May 29, 1996.

Population and number of registered voters:

Population: 5,643,966 (July 1998 This estimate includes 155,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, 17,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 6,000 in the Gaza Strip, and 164,000 in East Jerusalem.)
Registered Voters: 4,285,428 ( 1999 )

Last Updated on 07/26/2010