Parliamentary Groups in the Knesset

Parliamentary Groups

Current Parliamentary Groups

Parties, Lists, Parliamentary Groups, Etc.

All Parliamentary Groups - By Name

All Parliamentary Groups - By Knesset

Parliamentary Groups in Governments

Mergers and Splits Among Parliamentary Groups

About Parliamentary Groups

Introduction

The Members of Knesset function in the Knesset within the framework of Parliamentary 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.

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.

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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