Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

political system In political science, a political system means the type of political organization that can be recognized, observed or otherwise declared by a state (polity), state. It defines the process for making official government decisions. It usually comp ...

is based on

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

and allows for a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in ...

with numerous parties represented in the 120-seat

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (wit ...

. A typical Knesset includes many factions represented. This is because of the low

election threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...

required for a seat – 1 percent of the vote from 1949 to 1992, 1.5 percent from 1992 to 2003, 2 percent from 2003 to 2014, and 3.25 percent since 2015. In the 2015 elections, for instance, ten parties or alliances cleared the threshold, and five of them won at least ten seats. The low threshold, in combination with the nationwide

party-list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

system, makes it all but impossible for a single party to win the 61 seats needed for a

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats ...

. No party has ever won a majority of seats in an election, the most being 56, won by the

Alignment Alignment may refer to: Archaeology * Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks * Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones Biology * Struc ...

grouping in the 1969 elections (the Alignment had briefly held a majority of seats before the elections following its formation in January 1969). As a result, while only four parties (or their antecedents) have ever led governments, all Israeli governments, , have been coalitions comprising two or more parties.

Current parties

Parties represented in the Knesset

The following parties are represented following the 2022 election:

Other parties

The following parties do not have Knesset seats at present: * Ahrayut * Ale Yarok * Am Shalem *Ani Veata (Me and You) — The Israeli People's Party * Arab Democratic Party * Balad * Bible Bloc *

Brit Olam Brit Olam (, lit., ''World Alliance'' or ''Eternal Covenant'') is a political party in Israel. Background and ideology Brit Olam is a joint Jewish–Arab party founded by Ofer Lifschitz in 2005. It stands for the foundation of a Palestinian s ...

* Da'am Workers Party, Organization for Democratic Action * Derekh Eretz * Dor * Eretz Hadasha * HaYisraelim *

Ihud Bnei HaBrit Ihud Bnei HaBrit (; ; ) is an Israeli political party that participated in the April 2019 Israeli legislative election. It is mostly an Arab Christian party, with some Jewish and Muslim support. For the September 2019 Israeli legislative elec ...

(United Allies) * Israel Hofsheet (Israel Free) *

Kadima Kadima ( he, קדימה, lit=''Forward'') was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement pl ...

(held seats from 2005 to 2015) * Koah HaKesef *

Koah LeHashpi'a Israel has numerous minor political parties. Under the proportional representation electoral system used to elect members of the Knesset, parties required only 1% of the vote to win a seat in the legislature until the 1992 elections, when the elec ...

* Lazuz *

Leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets v ...

* Lehem * Lev LaOlim *

Man's Rights in the Family Party The Man's Rights in the Family Party ( he, מפלגת זכויות הגבר במשפחה - רע"ש, ''Miflega Zkhuyot HaGever BeMishpaha - Ra'ash'') was a minor political party in Israel headed by Yaakov Schlusser. Background In 1996, Schlusser ...

*Magen Yisrael (Shield of Israel) *Mahane Yehuda — Royalist Party of Israel * Meimad (held seats between 1999 and 2009 as part of the

One Israel One Israel ( he, ישראל אחת, ''Yisrael Ahat'') was an alliance of the Labor Party, Meimad and Gesher created to run for the 1999 Knesset elections. Background One Israel was formed by Labor leader Ehud Barak in the run-up to the 1 ...

alliance) *

Meretz Meretz ( he, מֶרֶצ, ) is a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed in 1992 by the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was at its peak between 1992 and 1996 when it had 12 seats. It currently has no seats in the Kness ...

*New Horizon *

New Right New Right is a term for various right-wing political groups or policies in different countries during different periods. One prominent usage was to describe the emergence of certain Eastern European parties after the collapse of the Soviet Uni ...

* Or * Piratim — The Pirate Party of Israel *Rappeh — a political party protesting COVID restrictions. *Shavim (Community) — Founded in 2018 as an LGBT party * Telem *

The Jewish Home The Jewish Home ( he, הַבַּיִת הַיְהוּדִי, HaBayit HaYehudi) is an Orthodox Jewish and religious Zionist political party in Israel. It was originally formed by a merger of the National Religious Party, Moledet, and Tkuma in ...

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' *Greens of Andorra * Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina *Greens of Burkina * Greens (Greece) * Greens of Montenegro *Greens of Serbia *Gree ...

* Tzeirim Boarim (Youths on Fire) — A

big tent A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a term used in reference to a political party's policy of permitting or encouraging a broad spectrum of views among its members. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined i ...

party founded in 2022 by Hadar Muchtar with the purpose of combating the rising cost of living. * Tzomet (held seats between 1987 and 1999; for the 1996 elections, it formed a joint ''"National Camp List"'' with

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel S ...

and Gesher) *

U'Bizchutan U'Bizchutan ( he, ובזכותן, lit., ''and by their .merit'') (also referred to as Bezchutan, 'B’Zhutan, and U'Bezchutan) is an Israeli political party formed in early 2015 by social activist Ruth Colian. It is the first political party in ...

— founded in 2015 as an ultra-Orthodox Jewish women's party * Yachad * Yisrael Hazaka * Yisrael HaMithadeshet * Zehut

Former parties

Parties formerly represented in the Knesset

Parties that failed to win seats in the Knesset

Name changes

The following parties changed their names *''Banai'' became ''Tehiya-Bnai'', then

Tehiya Tehiya ( he, תחיה, ''Revival''), originally known as Banai (Hebrew: , an acronym for ''Land of Israel Loyalists' Alliance'' (Hebrew: )), then Tehiya-Bnai (Hebrew: ), was an ultranationalist political party in Israel. The party existed from ...

*''Emunim'' became Tkuma *''Equality in Israel-Panthers'' became the Unity Party *''Flatto-Sharon'' became Development and Peace *''Hitkhabrut'' became the ''Renewed Religious National Zionist Party'', then Ahi *''Israel in the Centre'' became the Centre Party *''Meretz'' became ''Yachad'', then ''Meretz-Yachad'', then

again *''Movement for Change and Initiative'' became

Shinui Shinui ( he, שִׁינּוּי, lit. ''Change'') 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 ...

*''Mizrachi-Hapoel HaMizrachi'' became the ''National Religious Front'', then

National Religious Party The National Religious Party ( he, מִפְלָגָה דָּתִית לְאֻומִּית, ''Miflaga Datit Leumit'', commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acronym Mafdal, ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist moveme ...

, then

*''National Responsibility'' became

*''National Unity - National Progressive Alliance'' became

Progressive National Alliance The Progressive National Alliance ( he, ברית לאומית מתקדמת, ''Brit Leumit Mitkademet''), originally known as National Unity – National Progressive Alliance ( he, אחדות לאומית – הברית הלאומית המתקדמת ...

*''Parliamentary Group of Bronfman and Tsinker'' became ''Makhar'', then the Democratic Choice *''Party for the Advancement of the Zionist Idea'' became the New Liberal Party *''Rafi – National List'' became Ometz *''Rakah'' became Maki *''Secular Faction'' became Hetz *''Social-Democratic Faction'' became the

Independent Socialist Faction The Independent Socialist Faction ( he, סיעה סוציאליסטית עצמאית, ''Sia'a Sotzialistit Atzma'it'') was a political party in Israel in the 1970s. Background The party was established on 27 January 1976, during the eighth Kne ...

*''Shinui - Centre Party'' became ''Shinui - the Secular Movement'', then ''Shinui - Party for the Secular and the Middle Class'', but is generally known as

Zionist youth movements

References

External links

Parties participating in the 2006 elections
Knesset website
All parliamentary groups
Knesset website {{Asia topic, List of political parties in

Political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...