At stake in this election:

• 120 seats in the Knesset

Description of government structure:

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

* The president is largely a ceremonially role.

** After parliamentary elections, the president will usually select a prime minister that he/she feels has the best possibility of forming a new government.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by parliament to serve a 7-year term.
• 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.***

*** There is a two percent threshold required to gain representation. All candidates run in one, nationwide district.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Kadima / קדימה
  • Leader: Shaul MOFAZ
  • Seats won in last election: 28
• Bloc: Likud Yisrael Beiteinu / הליכוד ישראל ביתנו**
  • Leader: Benjamin NETANYAHU
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Israeli Labor Party / מפלגת העבודה הישראלית
  • Leader: Shelly YACHIMOVICH
  • Seats won in last election: 13
• Party: Shas / ש״ס
  • Leader: Eli YISHAI, Aryeh DERI, and Ariel ATIAS
  • Seats won in last election: 11
• Bloc: United Torah Judaism / יהדות התורה המאוחדת*****
  • Leader: Yaakov LITZMAN and Moshe GAFNI
  • Seats won in last election: 5
• List: The Jewish Home - National Union / הבית היהודי - האיחוד הלאומי******
  • Leader: Naftali BENNETT
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• List: United Arab List - Arab Movement for Renewal (Ra'am - Ta'al) / תנועה ערבית להתחדשות - רשימה ערבית מאוחדת (רע"ם - תע"ל)
  • Leader: Ibrahim SARSUR
  • Seats won in last election: 4
• Party: The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) / החזית הדמוקרטית לשלום ולשוויון (בל"ד)
  • Leader: Mohammad BARAKEH
  • Seats won in last election: 4
• Party: National Democratic Assembly (Balad) / ברית לאומית דמוקרטית (בל"ד)
  • Leader: Jamal ZAHALKA
  • Seats won in last election: 3
• Party: Meretz / מרצ**********
  • Leader: Zahava GAL-ON
  • Seats won in last election: 3
• Party: Yesh Atid / יש עתיד
  • Leader: Yair LAPID
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Strong Israel / עוצמה לישראל
  • Leader: Aryeh ELDAD
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Whole Nation / עם שלם
  • Leader: Haim AMSALEM
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Hatnuah / התנועה
  • Leader: Tzipi LIVNI
  • Seats won in last election: N/A

** Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu announced on 25 October 2012 that they would run as a unified bloc in the 2013 Parliamentary election. In the 2009 Parliamentary election, Likud won 27 seats, and Yisrael Beiteinu won 15 seats.
***** United Torah Judaism consists of the Degal HaTorah and Agudat Israel parties.
****** Consists of the Eretz Yisrael Shelanu, Molodet, Hatikva, and Tkuma parties. In the previous election, parties running under the Jewish Home list won 3 seats.
********** Party contested the 2009 Knesset elections under the name New Movement - Meretz.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 8,059,500 (2013)
• Registered Voters: 5,656,705 (January 2013 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 4,069,967 (2013)

·         Is Israel a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Israel ratified CEDAW: Yes (3 October 1991)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 27 (following the 2013 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 18 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Ireland a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Ireland ratified CRPD: Yes (28 September 2012)

·         Population with a disability: 1,208,925 (est.)