Israel Elections: How does the Israeli election process work? - explainer

If you are not clear on all the steps in Israel’s election system – as the country approaches Election Day on November 1 – then this article is for you. Even if you are very familiar with how Israel’s election system works, you may find this article helpful in explaining it to others.

Israel is a democracy. It is a robust democracy with many opinions expressed on many issues, and it is important to understand Israel’s democracy and how it functions, particularly at this time.

The election process in Israel is based on a parliamentary system that is used in many countries around the world. (The US does not have a parliamentary system; it has a representative system, in which people are elected from within specified districts: local districts for the House of Representatives, and states for the Senate.)

Here are the basic steps of an Israeli national election. As you will see, when Israel’s Election Day is over, the actual process of forming a government is only just beginning.

1) The election is for all 120 seats in Israel's Knesset

There are 120 seats in the Knesset. There are no districts. The national election is for all 120 seats.

2) Each Israeli political party submits a numbered list of candidates

Before the Knesset election, each party submits a list of individuals in a numbered sequence and runs that list in the election. The higher up on the list, the safer that slot is to becoming a Knesset Member (see No. 5).

3) Each Israeli voter picks one party and its list in the election

Each individual voter selects one party and its list from the various parties that are running.

4) Percentage of votes determines how many seats a party gets in Israel's Knesset

Each party receives a percentage of the Knesset seats based on the percentage of the votes received. Fractions of seats are worked out through various calculations, and sometimes through agreements between parties to share excess votes. There is a qualifying threshold of 3.25% of the national vote that a party needs to exceed in order to receive any seats in the Knesset at all. This qualifying threshold means that the smallest list of a Knesset party is four seats.

5) The number of seats a party has determines which people on their list sit in Israel's Knesset

An individual listed on their party’s election list gets “elected” to serve in the Knesset (receives one of the 120 Knesset seats) based on how many seats a party wins: if it garners 20 seats, then the first 20 individuals listed on the list becomes members of Knesset; if a party wins only 10 seats, then only the first 10 receive a Knesset seat, and so on, until all 120 seats are assigned according to the percentage of vote totals for each individual party.

After an election, if a Knesset member should die or resign, the next person on that Knesset member’s party list – who did not make it into the Knesset in the election itself – moves up and becomes a Knesset member.

6) An Israeli government must be formed with a majority of at least 61 seats

A ruling majority needs to be formed of 61 MKs. Since the first election in 1949, no one party has ever won a majority of 61 Knesset seats. Thus, without a one-party majority, a coalition of parties needs to be formed that adds up to a majority of at least 61.

7) Israel's president gives the mandate to form a government

Following the calculation and distribution of the Knesset seats, the president of Israel – mostly an honorary figurehead, but with this one important political responsibility – charges the leader of one of the parties with the assignment of forming a majority coalition with four weeks to do so. Who does the president choose for this challenge? Presumably the one who is thought to have the best possibility of success, often – but not always – the leader of the party with the most votes, or seats.

8) The different parties negotiate in order to form an Israeli coalition

Discussions and negotiations take place between various parties. If the party leader chosen by the president is successful in forming a majority coalition, then the proposed governing coalition is presented for acceptance. If that party leader is not successful, the president can grant an extension of another two weeks or can choose another party leader to attempt to form a majority coalition with the same four weeks to do so. If attempts to form a majority coalition are not successful, a new election can be called, and the entire election cycle would begin again.

Who will lead the next government? The answer will be determined in the process that begins on November 1. ■

Robert B. Rubin is a rabbi living in Brick, New Jersey.