Introduction
The Members of Knesset function in the Knesset within the framework of
Parliametnary Groups or as individual Knesset Members. At the opening of the
first session of every Knesset the number of Groups corresponds to the number
of lists that participated in the elections and were elected
(see the electoral system). In the course
of the Knesset's term, Groups are liable to split or merge. Most of the work
of the Knesset is conducted on a Group basis. At any given time there are 120
Knesset Members, but as a result of the resignation or death of a Member of
Knesset, the number of Knesset Members who serve in each Knesset is usually greater
than 120. The law and regulations define the rights and duties of Knesset
members.
Definition in the Law
A Parliamentary Group is defined in the law as:
- A party which has
presented in Knesset elections a list of candidates as a Group in the previous
Knesset and is represented in the current Knesset by at least one representative;
- A party whose representative or representatives have been recognized by the
Knesset House Committee as a Parliamentary
Group;
- A combination of two or more parties which maintain a single Group in the
Knesset. In fact there can be a Group, which is neither a party nor a combination
of parties, if it emerges from an existing Group splitting up, or a Knesset
member or several Knesset members breaking away from an existing Group, and has
been recognized as a Group by the House Committee, but has not registered as a
party with the Parties Registrar. The name of the Group in the Knesset is not
necessarily identical to that of the list in the elections. For example, from the
fourth to the eleventh Knessets the National Religious Party (Mafdal), whose
Parliamentary Group was also known by the same name, participated in the Knesset
elections as the National Religious Front.
The Number of Parliamentary Groups
The current electoral system in Israel, and
the ability of Knesset members to split or break away from their Group in the
course of the Knesset's term, has resulted in a multiplicity of Groups in the
Knesset. Except for a period of several months at the end of the term of
the 7th Knesset, when the Alignment Parliamentary
Group - which included the Israel Labor Party and Mapam - was formed, there was
never a single Group that had a majority in the Knesset. According to the
system which was current in Israel until the elections of the 14th Knesset, the
government required the Knesset's confidence (in other words, the support of at
least 61 of its members). As a result, all the Israeli governments were formed
by coalitions. However, as of the 14th Knesset in which the Prime Minister
was directly elected and then formed his cabinet, 61 Knesset members can bring
down the government by voting for a motion of
no-confidence in the Prime Minister.
The largest number of Parliamentary Groups in any Knesset was in the
9th Knesset, which started off with 13 Groups and ended
with 20 Groups and four individual Knesset members. At the beginning of the
13th Knesset, there were 10 Groups, and at its end -
16 Groups and four individual Knesset members. Only in the
3rd Knesset did the number of Groups remain the same as
when it was first elected - 12.
The Formation of New Parliamentary Groups
In the course of a Knesset's term, new Groups can be formed as a result of splits
or breakaways from existing Groups. For example, note the breakaway of Yi'ud from Tsomet,
of the Third Way from Labor, and of Gesher from the Likud in the course of the
13th Knesset. Additionally, new Groups can be formed
from the uniting of existing
Groups. This happened, for example, with the formation of Meretz from the merging of Ratz, Mapam and
Shinui in the course of the 12th Knesset. According
to the rules laid down in the Elections Law, as amended in 1990, the ability of
Groups to split or Knesset Members to break away from their Groups has been
limited.
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