Middle East > Israel > Israel Government Profile

Israel: Israel Government Profile

2015/03/06

Benjamin Netanyahu,

Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the right-wing Likud party, became prime minister next an inconclusive early election in February 2009, a decade next holding the office once before.

He has remained in power by negotiating Israel's volatile party system with skill, heading coalition governments with varying representation from left- and right-wing parties.

This 2009 government managed to steer Israel out of the world economic recession, but faced mounting protests about the rising cost of living.

It as well failed to make any headway in relations with the Palestinians, Jewish settlers on the West Bank and the Obama government in the United States.

Mr Netanyahu's repeated warnings over the perceived threat of Iran's nuclear programme have as well complicated relations with the US.

A coalition dispute over the budget prompted Mr Netanyahu to call an early election in January 2013, which saw a boost for two relatively new parties - Yesh Atid in the centre and the pro-settler Jewish Home - in a campaign fought mainly on economic issues.

Next months of wrangling the prime minister managed to assemble a coalition with these two parties, plus the small HaTnua splinter group from the Kadima centre party, that excluded most Jewish religious parties and raised the possibility of one of Israel's periodic attempts at rolling back the influence of ultra-Orthodox groups.

But tensions over tax breaks for initial-time home buyers, and a controversial bill to reinforce the Jewish nature of the Israeli national, prompted Mr Netanyahu to sack the Yesh Atid and HaTnua leaders from the cabinet, setting the country on course for an extra general election and the likelihood of Jewish religious parties returning to the coalition.

During his previous term as prime minister in 1996-99 Mr Netanyahu was initially hostile towards the new Palestinian Authority, but went on to show some flexibility while maintaining a security-initial policy.

Defeated by Labour leader Ehud Barak in 1999, he later served as finance minister under Likud PM Ariel Sharon, pushing through a series of market-oriented reforms before resigning in 2005 in turmoil at Mr Sharon's decision to pull out from Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu was born in 1949 in Tel Aviv, and spent part of his childhood in the United States where his father was a professor . During his five years in Israel's army, he served as captain of an elite commando unit. A fluent English-speaker, Mr Netanyahu has long been a prominent advocate for Israel in the international media.

President: Reuven Rivlin

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin Plain-speaking President Reuven Rivlin
 

The presidency is a largely ceremonial post and notionally above party politics, but individual presidents have used a combination of their personal prestige and the authority of their office to make interventions in national debates.

Reuven Rivlin, like his predecessor Shimon Peres, gives each sign that he will be such a president.

Born in 1939, a scion of an old Jerusalem family and a stalwart of the right-wing Likud party, President Rivlin has won respect across the political spectrum for his willingness to speak out on controversial issues.

In a country where the two-national solution remains the nominal preference of all major political parties, he supports integrating both Jewish settlers and potentially millions of Palestinians into a single national.

His opposition to the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza led to a very public rift with again Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during his term as speaker of the Knesset parliament in 2003-2006.

His relations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were little warmer during his second term as speaker in 2009-2013. He makes a point of reaching out to Israel's Arab minority, saying that they form a "bridge to peaceful co-existence" with the Palestinians.

He beat centre-right politician Meir Sheetrit in a closely-fought parliamentary election for the presidency in June 2014, winning the support of both Arab and pro-settler Knesset members.

Government

Israel is a parliamentary democracy. Its governmental system is based on several basic laws enacted by its unicameral parliament, the Knesset. The president (head of state) is elected by the Knesset for a 5-year term.

The prime minister (head of government) exercises executive power and has in the past been selected by the president as the party leader most able to form a government. Between May 1996 and March 2001, Israelis voted for the prime minister directly. (The legislation, which required the direct election of the prime minister, was rescinded by the Knesset in March 2001.) The members of the cabinet must be collectively approved by the Knesset.

The Knesset's 120 members are elected by secret ballot to 4-year terms, although the prime minister may decide to call for new elections before the end of the 4-year term. Voting is for party lists rather than for individual candidates, and the total number of seats assigned each party reflects that party's percentage of the vote. Successful Knesset candidates are drawn from the lists in order of party-assigned rank. Under the present electoral system, all members of the Knesset are elected at large.

Government Type: Parliamentary democracy

Capital: Jerusalem (population: 768,000; 2009) - Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in 1950, but the US, like all other countries, maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv

Other major cities: Tel Aviv-Yafo (population: 3.219 million; 2009); Haifa (population: 1.027 million; 2009)

Adminstrative Divisions: Israel is divided into six districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz), administration of which is coordinated by the Ministry of Interior. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for the administration of the occupied territories;

  1. Northern israel-districts-numbered.png
  2. Haifa
  3. Central
  4. Tel Aviv
  5. Jerusalem
  6. Southern

Other areas noted on the map right:

  • Golan Heights
  • West Bank
  • Gaza Strip

Independence Date: 14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)

Legal System: Mixed legal system of English common law, British Mandate regulations, and Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious laws. Israel has not submitted an International court of Justice (ICJ) jurisdiction declaration and withdrew acceptance of International Criminal Court (ICCt) jurisdiction in 2002

The independent judicial system includes secular and religious courts. The courts' right of judicial review of the Knesset's legislation is limited. Judicial interpretation is restricted to problems of execution of laws and validity of subsidiary legislation. The highest court in Israel is the Supreme Court, whose judges are approved by the President.

Government type: 

parliamentary democracy

Administrative divisions: 

6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz); Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv

Independence: 

14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)

National holiday: 

Independence Day, 14 May (1948); note - Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, but the Jewish calendar is lunar and the holiday may occur in April or May

Constitution: 

no formal constitution; some of the functions of a constitution are filled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the Basic Laws of the parliament (Knesset), and the Israeli citizenship law; note - since May 2003 the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee of the Knesset has been working on a draft constitution

Legal system: 

mixture of English common law, British Mandate regulations, and, in personal matters, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 

18 years of age; universal

Legislative branch: 

unicameral Knesset (120 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)

Judicial branch: 

Supreme Court (justices appointed by Judicial Selection Committee - made up of all three branches of the government; mandatory retirement age is 70)

Political parties and leaders : 

Balad [Azmi BISHARA]; Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (HADASH) [Muhammad BARAKEH]; Kadima [Tzipora “Tzipi” LIVNI]; Labor Party [Ehud BARAK]; Likud [Binyamin NETANYAHU]; National Union [Yaakov KATZ]; The Jewish Home (HaBayit HaYehudi) [Daniel HERSCHKOWITZ]; SHAS [Eliyahu YISHAI]; The New Movement-Meretz [Haim ORON]; United Arab List-Ta’al [Ibrahim SARSUR]; United Torah Judaism or UTJ [Yaakov LITZMAN]; Yisrael Beiteinu or YB [Avigdor LIEBERMAN]

Political pressure groups and leaders: 

B’Tselem [Jessica MONTELL, Executive Director] monitors human rights abuses; Peace Now [Yariv OPPENHEIMER, Secretary General] supports territorial concessions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; YESHA Council of Settlements [Danny DAYAN, Chairman] promotes settler interests and opposes territorial compromise

International organization participation: 

BIS, BSEC (observer), CERN (observer), EBRD, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, OAS (observer), OECD (accession state), OPCW (signatory), OSCE (partner), Paris Club (associate), PCA, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Flag description: 

white with a blue hexagram (six-pointed linear star) known as the Magen David (Shield of David) centered between two equal horizontal blue bands near the top and bottom edges of the flag