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 ...

political system In political science, a political system means the form of Political organisation, political organization that can be observed, recognised or otherwise declared by a society or state (polity), state. It defines the process for making official gov ...

is based on

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

and allows for a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional ...

with numerous parties represented in the 120-seat

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

. 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 votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various w ...

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 Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African gene ...

, 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 c ...

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. Such a government can consist of one party that holds a majority on its own, or be a coalition government of multi ...

. 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 A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

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

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

* HaYisraelim * Ihud Bnei HaBrit (United Allies) * Israel Hofsheet (Israel Free) *

Kadima Kadima () 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 plan in August 2005, and was soon ...

(held seats from 2005 to 2015) * Koah HaKesef * Koah LeHashpi'a * Lazuz *

Leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

* Lehem * Lev LaOlim * Man's Rights in the Family Party *Magen Yisrael (Shield of Israel) *Mahane Yehuda — Royalist Party of Israel *

Meimad Meimad (, an acronym for ''Medina Yehudit, Medina Demokratit'' (), lit., ''Jewish State, Democratic State'') is a moderate to left-wing religious Zionist political party in Israel. Founded in 1999, it is based on the ideology of the Meimad movem ...

(held seats between 1999 and 2009 as part of the

One Israel One Israel (, ''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 1999 elections with the ...

alliance) *New Horizon * New Right * 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 Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *The Greens – The Green Alternative, Austria *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' * Greens of Andorra * The Greens (Benin) *The Greens (Bulgaria) * Greens of Bosnia and He ...

* Tzeirim Boarim (Youths on Fire) — A

big tent A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a political party having members covering a broad spectrum of beliefs. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined ideology, seek voters who adhere to that ideology, and att ...

party founded in 2022 by Hadar Muchtar with the purpose of combating the rising cost of living. *

Tzomet Tzomet (, lit., ''Crossroads'') is a small, right-wing political party in Israel. Raful period (1983-1999) The party was founded by General Rafael Eitan in 1983, after his retirement from the position of chief-of-staff in 1982. He headed it throu ...

(held seats between 1987 and 1999; for the 1996 elections, it formed a joint ''"National Camp List"'' with

Likud Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...

and Gesher) *

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

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

Yisrael Hazaka Israel has numerous minor political parties. Under the proportional representation electoral system used to elect members of the Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all law ...

* Yisrael HaMithadeshet *

Zehut Zehut () is a Right-libertarianism, right-libertarian and Nationalism, nationalist political party in Israel founded in 2015 by Moshe Feiglin. Its platform is centered on promoting Liberty, individual liberty, including economic freedom, and Pr ...

Former parties

Parties formerly represented in the Knesset

Parties that failed to win seats in the Knesset

Family tree of parties in Israel

Name changes

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

Tehiya Tehiya (), originally known as Banai (, an abbreviation for ''Land of Israel Loyalists' Alliance''), then Tehiya-Bnai (), was an ultranationalist Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a co ...

*''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

Meretz Meretz (, ; ) was 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 had no seats in the Knesset following its failure ...

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

Shinui Shinui () was a Zionist, secular, and anti-clerical free market Liberalism worldwide, liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third-largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a split and collaps ...

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

National Religious Party The National Religious Party (, ''Miflaga Datit Leumit''), commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew abbreviation Mafdal (), was an Israeli political party representing the interests of the Israeli settlers and religious Zionist movement. Formed ...

, then

The Jewish Home The Jewish Home () was an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish, Religious Zionism, religious Zionist and Far-right politics in Israel, far-right political party in Israel. It was originally formed by a merger of the National Religious Party, Mole ...

*''National Responsibility'' became

*''National Unity - National Progressive Alliance'' became Progressive National Alliance *''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 *''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 area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...