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 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 3,106,452 (1999)

·         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: 9 (following the 1999 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: 846,594 (est.)