Understand Israel

Israel’s 120-seat parliament. It legislates, oversees the government and elects certain office-holders.

Because a single list rarely wins 61 seats, governments usually rest on agreements among several parties.

Two lists can sign a pact so their leftover votes are pooled when the last seats are allocated, which often wins one extra seat for the pair.

The conduct of relations between states - negotiations, treaties, embassies and normalisation agreements - usually led by the foreign ministry and the prime minister.

Jewish immigration to Israel, literally “ascent”. It is organised by law and gives newcomers a defined set of rights and support.

A person immigrating to Israel under the Law of Return, and the plural form used for new immigrants.

The court hears appeals and petitions involving public authorities; its institutional role is politically debated.

A Judea and Samaria / West Bank administrative category where Israeli civil and military bodies exercise planning authority.

Principle: for a Palestinian from Judea and Samaria who is neither an Israeli citizen nor a resident and is convicted by a military court of intentionally killing someone…

A coalition-backed bill proposed in February 2023 that would have barred courts from reviewing ministerial appointments.

Nicknamed in the press because it was explicitly…

A set of long-standing arrangements on Shabbat, dietary rules, personal status and religious services.

The prime minister and the ministers, who must have the confidence of at least 61 members of the Knesset.

The parties that are not part of the coalition.

The head of state, with a mostly symbolic role. After an election, the president asks a member of the Knesset to form the government.

The state's top lawyer. The attorney general advises the government, says whether its decisions respect the law and heads the prosecution.

The nine-member committee that chooses the judges: 3 Supreme Court justices, 2 ministers, 2 members of the Knesset and 2 representatives of the Bar Association.

A law pa…

A mechanism that would allow the Knesset to restore a law struck down by the Supreme Court.

The most official form of public inquiry in Israel. It is provided for by the 1968 Commissions of Inquiry Law.

The government decides to set it up and defines its subjec…

The body that organises the elections and approves the lists.

Voters do not vote for a person but for a ranked list of candidates; members of the Knesset are taken from the list in order.

The Hebrew letters that identify each list on the ballot paper.

An internal party vote to rank its candidates on the list.

A group of like-minded parties that support each other to form a government.

The official Jewish religious authority. It handles marriages, divorces and conversions, among other things.

A marriage performed by the state, without a religious authority. It does not exist in Israel, but civil marriages performed abroad are registered.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews.

The question of exempting yeshiva students from military service.

A school for the study of Jewish religious texts.

The Basic Law that defines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

The territory west of the Jordan River, controlled by Israel since 1967 and partly administered by the Palestinian Authority.

The division of Judea and Samaria/West Bank under the Oslo Accords, according to who has civil and security control.

The Palestinian government created by the Oslo Accords, which administers part of Judea and Samaria/West Bank.

Applying Israeli law to part of Judea and Samaria/West Bank.

The creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

An armed Islamist organisation designated as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada, among others. On 7 …

An armed Lebanese Shiite organisation backed by Iran.

Normalisation agreements signed in 2020 between Israel and several Arab countries.

High prices (housing, food) compared with incomes.

Israel's main trade-union federation.

National Insurance (social security).

The health insurance funds.