Israel's Electoral System

Take two Israelis," runs the old quip,"and you've got three political parties!" The saying is not without truth in a nation where everyone has a strong opinion and usually will not hesitate to express it. The Knesset reflects this rambunctious spirit, sometimes to the point of paralyzing the parliamentary process and driving the public to distraction.

Israel's electoral system, based on proportional representation, is a legacy of the dangerous but heady days of Israel's War of Independence, in 1948-49. To avoid an acrimonious and divisive election while the fledgling state was still fighting to stay alive, the founding fathers developed a one-body parliamentary system that gave representation to rival ideological factions in proportion to their comparative strength in the country's pre-State institutions.

Instead of the winner-takes-all approach of the constituency system, the Israeli system grants any party that wins 2% of the national vote its first seat in the Knesset. The good news is that even fringe parties can have their voices heard. The bad news is that the system spawns a plethora of political parties, making it virtually impossible for one party to get the majority needed to govern alone.

Consequently, Israeli governments have always consisted of a coalition of parties, inevitably making them governments of compromise. The smaller coalition partners have been able to demand a price for their crucial parliamentary support—influential political positions, budgets for pet projects, and so on—which is often beyond what a minor party deserves, and sometimes at odds with the good of the nation at large.

Israel also has a President, chosen by the members of the Knesset for one term of seven years; these elections are held at a different time than the national elections.

After the elections for the Knesset, the President consults with every party that made the 2% cut, and entrusts the party leader who seems to have the best coalition options with the job of forming a government. If successful within a designated period, he or she becomes Prime Minister.