The Cabinet of Israel (; ) is the cabinet which exercises executive authority in the

State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. The composition of the government must be approved by a vote of confidence in the Knesset (the Israeli parliament). Under Israeli law, the prime minister may dismiss members of the government but must do so in writing, and new appointees must be approved by the Knesset. Most ministers lead ministries, though some are ministers without portfolio. Most ministers are members of the Knesset, though only the Prime Minister and the " designated acting prime minister" are required to be Knesset members. Some ministers are also called deputy and vice-prime ministers. Unlike the designated acting prime minister, these roles have no statutory meanings. The government operates in accordance with the Basic Law. It meets on Sundays weekly in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. There may be additional meetings if circumstances require it. The current head of government, the prime minister, is Benjamin Netanyahu. Unlike most cabinets in parliamentary regimes, the Israeli cabinet–officially described in the Basic Laws as the "Government"–is both the ''de jure'' and ''de facto'' executive authority in Israel. In most parliamentary regimes, the head of state is nominal chief executive, while bound by convention to act on the advice of the cabinet. In Israel, the Basic Laws explicitly vest executive power in the cabinet/Government, not the President.

Use of terms

The body discussed in this article is referred to in Israeli official documents as the ''Government of Israel''. This is in accordance with the normal translation of its Hebrew name, (, ''Memshala''). In Israel, the term ''cabinet'' () is generally used for the State-Security Cabinet ( ''HaKabinet haMedini-Bitachoni''), a smaller forum of cabinet members that decides on defense and foreign policy issues and may consist of up to half of the (full) cabinet members. Another term in use is the

Kitchen Cabinet Kitchen cabinets are the built-in furniture installed in many kitchens for storage of food, cooking equipment, and often Silver (household), silverware and Dishware, dishes for table service. Home appliance, Appliances such as refrigerators, dis ...

(, ''HaMitbahon'', lit. "The kitchenette"), a collection of senior officials, or unofficial advisers to the Security Cabinet of Israel.

Provisional and first governments of Israel

The first government was the provisional government of Israel (''HaMemshala HaZmanit'') which governed from shortly before

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

until the formation of the first formal government in March 1949 following the first Knesset elections in January that year. It was formed as the People's Administration (''Minhelet HaAm'') on 12 April 1948, in preparation for independence just over a month later. All its thirteen members were taken from Moetzet HaAm, the temporary legislative body set up at the same time.

Current government

The

thirty-seventh government of Israel The thirty-seventh government of Israel is the current Cabinet of Israel, cabinet of Israel, formed on 29 December 2022, following the 2022 Israeli legislative election, Knesset election on 1 November 2022. The coalition government consists of ...

() is the current government of Israel, which was sworn in on 29 December 2022.

List of cabinets

References

External links

Current and past cabinets
– Knesset website
Basic Law: The Government (2001)
– Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabinet of Israel Executive branch of the government of Israel Government of Israel Lists of government ministers of Israel