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Israel's political system is based on proportional representation and allows for a multi-party system with numerous parties represented in the 120-seat Knesset.

A typical Knesset includes many factions represented. This is because of the low election threshold required for a seat – 1 percent of the vote from 1949 to 1992, 1.5 percent from 1992 to 2003, 2 percent from 2003 to 2014, and 3.25 percent since 2015. In the 2015 elections, for instance, ten parties or alliances cleared the threshold, and five of them won at least ten seats. The low threshold, in combination with the nationwide party-list system, makes it all but impossible for a single party to win the 61 seats needed for a majority government. No party has ever won a majority of seats in an election, the most being 56, won by the Alignment grouping in the 1969 elections (the Alignment had briefly held a majority of seats before the elections following its formation in January 1969).

As a result, while only four parties (or their antecedents) have ever led governments, all Israeli governments, as of 2023, have been coalitions comprising two or more parties.

Current parties

Parties represented in the Knesset

The following parties are represented following the 2022 election:

Party or alliance				Ideology	Symbol	Leader		Knesset	Status
	Likud[lower-alpha 1]			Conservatism National liberalism Right-wing populism	מחל‎ م‌ح‌ل‎	Benjamin Netanyahu		32 / 120	Government
	Yesh Atid			Liberal Zionism Secularism	פה‎ ف‌ه‎	Yair Lapid		24 / 120	Opposition
	National Unity		Blue and White Israel Resilience Party	Conservatism Zionism	כן‎ ك‌ن‎	Benny Gantz		12 / 120	Government
			New Hope
	Shas[lower-alpha 1]			Religious conservatism	שס‎ ش‌س‎	Aryeh Deri		11 / 120	Government
	Mafdal – Religious Zionism[lower-alpha 1]			Religious Zionism	ט‎ ط‎	Bezalel Smotrich		7 / 120	Government
	United Torah Judaism[lower-alpha 1]		Agudat Yisrael	Religious conservatism Haredi non-Zionism	ג‎ ج‎	Moshe Gafni		7 / 120	Government
			Degel HaTorah
	Otzma Yehudit[lower-alpha 1]			Kahanism Jewish supremacy		Itamar Ben-Gvir		6 / 120	Government
	Yisrael Beiteinu			Conservatism Nationalism	ל‎ ل‎	Avigdor Lieberman		6 / 120	Opposition
	United Arab List			Conservatism Islamism	עם‎ ع‌م‎‎	Mansour Abbas		5 / 120	Opposition
	Hadash– Ta'al		Hadash (Maki)	Two-state solution Secularism	ום‎ و‌م‎‎	Ayman Odeh		5 / 120	Opposition
			Ta'al
	Labor Party			Social democracy Labor Zionism	אמת‎ أ‌م‌ت‎	Merav Michaeli		4 / 120	Opposition
	Noam[lower-alpha 1]			Religious Zionism Religious conservatism		Avi Maoz		1 / 120	Government

1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Part of the national camp.

Former parties

Name changes

The following parties changed their names

• Banai became Tehiya-Bnai, then Tehiya
• Emunim became Tkuma
• Equality in Israel-Panthers became the Unity Party
• Flatto-Sharon became Development and Peace
• Hitkhabrut became the Renewed Religious National Zionist Party, then Ahi
• Israel in the Centre became the Centre Party
• Meretz became Yachad, then Meretz-Yachad, then Meretz again
• Movement for Change and Initiative became Shinui
• Mizrachi-Hapoel HaMizrachi became the National Religious Front, then National Religious Party, then The Jewish Home
• National Responsibility became Kadima
• National Unity - National Progressive Alliance became Progressive National Alliance
• Parliamentary Group of Bronfman and Tsinker became Makhar, then the Democratic Choice
• Party for the Advancement of the Zionist Idea became the New Liberal Party
• Rafi – National List became Ometz
• Rakah became Maki
• Secular Faction became Hetz
• Social-Democratic Faction became the Independent Socialist Faction
• Shinui - Centre Party became Shinui - the Secular Movement, then Shinui - Party for the Secular and the Middle Class, but is generally known as Shinui

Zionist youth movements

See also

• Politics of Israel
• List of political parties by country
• Liberalism in Israel
• Labor Zionism
• Revisionist Zionism

References

External links

• Parties participating in the 2006 elections Knesset website (in English)
• All parliamentary groups Knesset website (in English)