Page 4 - Issue 9

Background on the Electoral System in Israel

(Excerpted from http://www.knesset.gov.il/main/eng/home.asp)
Israel has an electoral system based on nation-wide proportional representation, and the number of
seats every party list receives in the Knesset is proportional to the number of voters who voted for it. The
only limitation is the 2% qualifying threshold. In other words, a party must receive at least 2% of the
votes in order to qualify for a seat. According to this system, the voters vote for a party, and not for a
particular person on the list. Some parties have primaries, wherein registered party members of directly
elect their candidate list for the Knesset. In the ultra-religious parties, spiritual leaders appoint the
candidates. The Knesset elections take place once every four years, but the Knesset or the Prime
Minister can decide to hold early elections, and under certain circumstances can serve for more than
four years.

The Knesset has a total of 120 seats. Since a government requires the Knesset's confidence to
function, it must have a supporting coalition of at least 61 of the 120 Knesset members. To date, no
party has received enough Knesset seats to be able to form a government by itself; thus all Israeli
governments have been based on coalitions of several parties, with those remaining outside the
government making up the opposition.

The Knesset member to whom the task is assigned has a period of 28 days to form a government. The
President may extend the term by an additional period of time, not exceeding 14 days.
If this period (up to 42 days) has passed and the designated Knesset member has not succeeded in
forming a government, the President may then assign the task of forming a government to another
Knesset member. This Knesset member has a period of 28 days for the fulfillment of the task.
If a government still has not been formed, an absolute majority of Knesset members (61) has the option
of applying in writing to the President, asking him to assign the task to a particular Knesset member.
Such a precedent has yet to occur.
When a government has been formed, the designated prime minister presents it to the Knesset within 45
days of publication of election results in the official gazette. At this time, he announces its composition,
the basic guideline of its policy, and the distribution of functions among its ministers. The prime minister
then asks the Knesset for an expression of confidence. The government is installed when the Knesset
has expressed confidence in it by a majority of 61 Knesset members, and the ministers thereupon
assume office.

Primary problems!

Dec. 9, 2008
Herb Keinon , THE JERUSALEM POST

If it weren't so pathetic, it would be funny.

Here we are living in a country that must seriously consider a military strike against a state thousands of
kilometers away to prevent it from getting nuclear weapons to blow us all to smithereens - a feat on our
part that would take tremendous technological skill and prowess.

Yet we are unable to overcome technical glitches and assure that 50,000 people can vote smoothly.

When Kadima messed up its leadership primaries back in September, and kept the polls open
for an extra hour to allow those waiting outside the crowded polling places more time to vote,