At stake in this election:      

• The 120 seats in the Knesset

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Reuven RIVLIN*
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Benjamin NETANYAHU**
• Assembly: Israel has a unicameral Knesset with 120 seats.

* The president is largely a ceremonial role.

** After parliamentary elections, the president will usually select a prime minister they think 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 3.25% threshold required to gain representation. All candidates run in one national district.

Main parties in the electoral race:*

• Party: Likud**
  • Leader: Benjamin NETANYAHU
• Alliance: Blue and White / Kahol Lavan ***
  • Leaders: Benny GANTZ and Yair LAPID
• Party: Gesher
  • Leader: Orli LEVI-ABEKSIS
• Alliance: Hadash-Ta’al****
  • Leaders: Ayman ODEH and Ahmad TIBI
• Alliance: Ra’am – Balad****
  • Leaders: Jamal ZAHALKA and Masud GHNAIM
• Party: Meretz
  • Leader: Tamar ZANDBERG
• Party: Labor / HaAvodah
  • Leader: Avi GABBAY
• Party: Shas
  • Leader: Aryeh DERI
• Alliance: United Torah Judaism*****
  • Leader: Moshe GAFNI and Yakov LITZMAN
• Alliance: Union of Right-Wing Parties ******
  • Leader: Rafi PERETZ
• Party: New Right
  • Leader: Naftali Bennet and Ayelet Shaked
• Party: Yisrael Beiteinu
  • Leaders: Avigdor LIBERMAN
• Party: Kulanu
  • Leader: Moshe KAHLON

* There are 43 party lists registered in this election. A full list is available here.

** Likud has entered into an agreement with United Torah Judaism to share the fifth and eighth slots on their ticket.

*** Blue and White is a joint list comprised of Hosen L’Yisrael and Yesh Atid.

**** Hadash – Ta’al is a joint list comprised of those two parties; Ra’am – Balad is a joint list comprised of those two parties.

***** United Torah Judaism is an alliance of two Ultra-Orthodox parties, Degel HaTorah and Agudat Israel.

****** Union of Right-Wing Parties is a joint list comprised of Jewish Home, Tkuma, and Otzma Yehudit.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 8,583,916 (2019 est.)
• Registered Voters: 6,339,279

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 4,314,369 (2019 est.)
• Is Israel a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)
• Has Israel ratified CEDAW: Yes (3 October 1991)
• Gender Quota: Political parties have voluntary quotas but there are no legislated quotas. 
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators: 33 (27.5%) of 120 seats in the Knesset
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 22 (2018)
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A (2019)

Disability Data:

• Is Israel a signatory to CRPD: Yes (20 March 2007)
• Has Israel ratified CRPD: Yes (28 September 2012)
• Population with a disability: 1,207,397 (est.)