Prime Minister of Israel

The prime minister of Israel (Hebrew: ‫רֹאשׁ ַה ֶמּ ְמ ָשׁ ָלה‬,

romanized: Rosh HaMemshala, lit. 'Head of the
Government', Hebrew acronym: ‫ ;רה״מ‬Arabic: ‫رﺋﻴﺲ‬
‫اﻟﺤﻜﻮﻣﺔ‬, Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma) is the head of government and
chief executive of the State of Israel.
Prime Minister of Israel

‫רֹאשׁ ַה ֶמּ ְמ ָשׁ ָלה‬

Emblem of Israel

Prime Ministerial Standard[1]

 Incumbent
Benjamin Netanyahu
since 29 December 2022

Prime Minister's Office

Style His Excellency

Residence Beit Aghion

Nominator Knesset

Appointer President

Term length Four years, renewable

indefinitely
Inaugural holder David Ben-Gurion
Formation 14 May 1948

Deputy Alternate Prime Minister

Salary US$170,000 annually[2]

Website [Link] ([Link]

en/departments/prime_minis
ters_office)

Israel is a republic with a president as head of state. The

president's powers are largely ceremonial; while the
prime minister holds the executive power. The official
residence of the prime minister, Beit Aghion, is in
Jerusalem. The current prime minister is Benjamin
Netanyahu of Likud, the ninth person to hold the position
(excluding caretakers).
Following an election, the president nominates a
member of the Knesset to become prime minister after
asking party leaders whom they support for the position.
The first candidate the president nominates has 28 days
to put together a viable coalition. He then presents a
government platform and must receive a vote of
confidence from the Knesset to become prime minister.
In practice, the prime minister is usually the leader of the
largest party in the governing coalition. Between 1996
and 2001, the prime minister was directly elected,
separately from the Knesset.[3]

Unlike most prime ministers in parliamentary republics,

the prime minister is both de jure and de facto chief
executive. This is because the Basic Laws of Israel
explicitly vest executive power in the government, of
which the prime minister is the leader.
History
The office of Prime Minister came into existence on 14
May 1948, the date of the Declaration of the
Establishment of the State of Israel, when the provisional
government was created. David Ben-Gurion, leader of
Mapai and head of the Jewish Agency, became Israel's
first prime minister. The position became permanent on
8 March 1949, when the first government was formed.
Ben-Gurion retained his role until late 1953, when he
resigned to settle in the Kibbutz of Sde Boker. He was
replaced by Moshe Sharett. However, Ben-Gurion
returned in a little under two years to reclaim his
position. He resigned for a second time in 1963, breaking
away from Mapai to form Rafi. Levi Eshkol took over as
head of Mapai and prime minister. He became the first
prime minister to head the country under the banner of
two parties when Mapai formed the Alignment with
Ahdut HaAvoda in 1965. In 1968 he also became the only
party leader to command an absolute majority in the
Knesset, after Mapam and Rafi merged into the
Alignment, giving it 63 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.

On 26 February 1969, Eshkol became the first prime

minister to die in office. He was temporarily replaced by
Yigal Allon, whose stint lasted less than a month, as the
party persuaded Golda Meir to return to political life and
become prime minister in March 1969. Meir was Israel's
first woman prime minister, and the third in the world
(after Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Indira Gandhi).

Meir resigned in 1974 after the Agranat Commission

published its findings on the Yom Kippur War, even
though it had absolved her of blame. Yitzhak Rabin took
over, though he also resigned towards the end of the
eighth Knesset's term following a series of scandals.
Those included the suicide of Housing Minister Avraham
Ofer after police began investigating allegations that he
had used party funds illegally, and the affair involving
Asher Yadlin (the governor-designate of the Bank of
Israel), who was sentenced to five years in prison for
having accepted bribes. Rabin's wife, Leah, was also
found to have had an overseas bank account, which was
illegal in Israel at the time.

Menachem Begin became the first right-wing prime

minister when his Likud won the 1977 elections, and
retained the post in the 1981 elections. He resigned in
1983 for health reasons, passing the reins of power to
Yitzhak Shamir.
After the 1984 elections had proved inconclusive with
neither the Alignment nor Likud able to form a
government, a national unity government was formed
with a rotating prime ministership – Shimon Peres took
the first two years, and was replaced by Shamir midway
through the Knesset term. Although the 1988 elections
produced another national unity government, Shamir was
able to take the role alone. Peres made an abortive bid to
form a left-wing government in 1990, but failed, leaving
Shamir in power until 1992. Rabin became prime
minister for the second time when he led Labour to
victory in the 1992 elections. After his assassination on 4
November 1995, Peres took over as prime minister.

Direct election
During the thirteenth Knesset (1992–1996) it was
decided to hold a separate ballot for prime minister
modeled after American presidential elections. This
system was instituted in part because the Israeli
electoral system makes it all but impossible for one
party to win a majority. While only two parties—
Mapai/Labour and Likud—had ever led governments, the
large number of parties or factions in a typical Knesset
usually prevents one party from winning the 61 seats
needed for a majority.

In 1996, when the first such election took place, the

outcome was a surprise win for Benjamin Netanyahu
after election polls predicted that Peres was the
winner.[4] However, in the Knesset election held at the
same time, Labour won more votes than any other party
(27%). Thus Netanyahu, despite his theoretical position
of power, needed the support of the religious parties to
form a viable government.

Ultimately Netanyahu failed to hold the government

together, and early elections for both prime minister and
the Knesset were called in 1999. Although five
candidates intended to run, the three representing minor
parties (Benny Begin of Herut – The National Movement,
Azmi Bishara of Balad and Yitzhak Mordechai of the
Centre Party) dropped out before election day, and Ehud
Barak beat Netanyahu in the election. However, the new
system again appeared to have failed; although Barak's
One Israel alliance (an alliance of Labour, Gesher and
Meimad) won more votes than any other party in the
Knesset election, they garnered only 26 seats, the lowest
ever by a winning party or alliance. Barak needed to form
a coalition with six smaller parties to form a government.
In early 2001, Barak resigned following the outbreak of
the al-Aqsa Intifada. However, the government was not
brought down, and only elections for prime minister were
necessary. In the election itself, Ariel Sharon of Likud
comfortably beat Barak, taking 62.4% of the vote.
However, because Likud only had 21 seats in the
Knesset, Sharon had to form a national unity
government. Following Sharon's victory, it was decided to
do away with separate elections for prime minister and
return to the previous system.

2003 onwards

The 2003 elections were carried out in the same manner

as prior to 1996. Likud won 38 seats, the highest by a
party for over a decade, and as party leader Sharon was
duly appointed Prime Minister. However, towards the end
of his term and largely as a result of the deep divisions
within Likud over Israel's unilateral disengagement plan,
Sharon broke away from his party to form Kadima,
managing to maintain his position as prime minister and
also becoming the first prime minister not to be a
member of either Labour or Likud (or their
predecessors). However, he suffered a stroke in January
2006, in the midst of election season, leading Ehud
Olmert to become acting prime minister in the weeks
leading to the elections. He was voted by the cabinet to
be interim prime minister just after the 2006 elections,
when Sharon had reached 100 days of incapacitation. He
thus became Israel's third interim prime minister, only
days before forming his own new government as the
official Prime Minister of Israel.
In 2008, amid accusations of corruption and challenges
from his own party, Olmert resigned. However his
successor Tzipi Livni was unable to form a coalition
government. In the election in the following year, while
Kadima won the most seats, it was the Likud leader
Benjamin Netanyahu who was given the task of forming
a government. He was able to do so, thus beginning his
second term as Prime Minister of Israel.

In the 2013 election, the Likud Yisrael Beiteinu alliance

emerged as the largest faction. After forming a coalition,
Netanyahu secured his third prime ministership. In 2015,
Netanyahu managed to stay in power. Multiple
disagreements with his coalition members led to the
2019–2022 Israeli political crisis.
In 2021, Naftali Bennett became prime minister. He was
succeeded in 2022 by his coalition partner, Yair Lapid.

Order of succession
If the prime minister dies in office, the cabinet chooses
an interim prime minister[5] to run the government until a
new government is placed in power. Yigal Allon served as
interim prime minister following Levi Eshkol's death, as
did Shimon Peres following the assassination of Yitzhak
Rabin.

According to Israeli law, if a prime minister is temporarily

incapacitated rather than dies (as was the case following
Ariel Sharon's stroke in early 2006), power is transferred
to the acting prime minister, until the prime minister
recovers (Ehud Olmert took over from Sharon), for up to
100 days. If the prime minister is declared permanently
incapacitated, or that period expires, the president of
Israel oversees the process of assembling a new
governing coalition, and in the meantime the acting
prime minister or other incumbent minister is appointed
by the cabinet to serve as interim prime minister.

In the case of Sharon, elections were already due to

occur within 100 days of the beginning of his coma; thus,
the post-election coalition-building process pre-empted
the emergency provisions for the selection of a new
prime minister. Nevertheless, Olmert was appointed
interim prime minister on 16 April 2006, after the
elections, just days before he formed a government on 4
May 2006, becoming the official prime minister.
Acting, vice and deputy prime minister

Aside from the position of Acting Prime Minister, there

are also vice prime ministers and deputy prime
ministers.

Interim prime minister

The interim prime minister (Hebrew: ‫ראש הממשלה‬

‫בפועל‬, Rosh HaMemshala Ba-foal lit. "prime minister de
facto") is appointed by the government if the incumbent
is dead or permanently incapacitated, or if his tenure was
ended due to a criminal conviction.

Israeli law distinguishes the terms acting prime minister

(‫)מלא מקום ראש הממשלה‬, filling in for the incumbent
prime minister, temporarily, and acting in the incumbent's
office, while the incumbent is in office, and an interim
prime minister in office. Only if the incumbent prime
minister becomes temporarily incapacitated will the
acting prime minister act in the incumbent's office and
will be standing in for him for up to 100 consecutive
days, while the incumbent is in office. Legally, the "100
consecutive days" limit, in the language of the law, only
stipulates that the incumbent then is deemed to be
permanently incapacitated and that the limited time for
an acting prime minister to act in the incumbent's office
is over.

In 2006, Ehud Olmert, after standing in for Prime Minister

Sharon for 100 consecutive days, as acting prime
minister, did not automatically assume office as an
interim prime minister. The government voted to appoint
him, and in addition, he was also a member of prime
minister's party, which enabled them to appoint him to
the role.[6]

Shimon Peres was the foreign minister when Prime

Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, and was voted
unanimously to assume office as an interim prime
minister until a new Government would be placed in
power (that he later formed by himself). Yigal Allon was
also voted to be the interim prime minister after Prime
Minister Levi Eshkol suddenly died and served until
Golda Meir formed her government.

Both the interim and acting prime ministers' authorities

are identical to those of a prime minister, with the
exception of not having the authority to dissolve the
Knesset.
List of interim prime ministers

Name Party Dates in office

Yigal Alon Labour Alignment 26 February 1969 – 17 March 1969

Shimon Peres Labour Alignment 4 November 1995 – 22 November 1995

Ehud Olmert Kadima 14 April 2006 – 4 May 2006

Interim government

An 'interim government' (Hebrew: ‫ממשלת מעבר‬,

Memshelet Ma'avar lit. "transitional government") is the
same government, having been changed in their legal
status, after the death, resignation, permanent
incapacitation, or criminal conviction of the prime
minister, as well as after the prime minister's request to
dissolve the Knesset (Israeli parliament) was published
through the president's decree, or after it was defeated
by a motion of no confidence (these actions are regarded
by the law as "the Government shall be deemed to have
resigned"), or after election and before the forming of a
new government.

Prime Minister's residence

Since 1974, the official residence of the prime minister is
Beit Aghion, at the corner of Balfour and Smolenskin
streets in Rehavia, Jerusalem.[7]

List of prime ministers of Israel

Term of office in years

See also
Prime Minister's Office (Israel)
Cabinet of Israel
 Beit Aghion
Beit Rosh ha-Memshala

References
1. Flags of the Israel Defense Forces

2. "[Link] Pay Check" ([Link]

ch/pay-check) . IG.

3. Basic Law: The Government (2001) Sections 7a, 13d.

4. Prime Minister Netanyahu. Remember? ([Link]

[Link]/online/1/ART/977/[Link]) Maariv, 30 August 2005

5. Q&A: Israel's political future ([Link]

iddle_east/[Link]) BBC News, 11 January 2006

6. "Cabinet Secretary Statement after the Cabinet meeting

on 11 April 2006 (English)" ([Link]
overnment/Communiques/2006/Cabinet+Communique+1
[Link]) .
 7. From modesty to monstrosity ([Link]
asen/spages/[Link]) Haaretz, 1 May 2009

Further reading
Avner, Yehuda (2010). The Prime Ministers: An
Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership. Israel: Toby
Press. ISBN 978-1-59264-278-6. OCLC 758724969 (ht
tps://[Link]/oclc/758724969) .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Prime

ministers of Israel.

Official website ([Link]

prime_ministers_office)
All Prime Ministers of Israel ([Link]
[Link]/govt/eng/GovtByMinistry_eng.asp) Knesset
 website
The PM's Who Shaped Israel ([Link]
[Link]/46505,in-pictures,news-in-pictures,in-pictures-p
rime-ministers-who-shaped-israel) – slideshow by
The First Post
Family Trees of all Prime Minister of Israel ([Link]
[Link]/projects/Israeli-Heads-of-State-and-Stat
e-Authorities)

Retrieved from "[Link]

title=Prime_Minister_of_Israel&oldid=1132729652"

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