At stake
in this election:
- Seats in the Knesset: 120
- The office of the prime minister of
Israel
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Description
of government structure:
- Parliament: Israel's unicameral
parliament, the Knesset, consists of 120 members.
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Description
of electoral system:
- The president is chosen by the
Knesset to serve a five-year term.
- The prime minister is directly
elected by absolute majority vote. In the event that no candidate for prime minister
receives a majority of the votes, the top two finishers enter a runoff two weeks after the
general election.
- Voters cast two votes - one for the
Knesset and one directly for prime minister. The prime minister therefore need not
belong to the political party with the largest number of seats in the Knesset.
- Members of the Knesset are directly
elected by a closed party list system of proportional representation from a single
nation-wide constituency for four-year terms.
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Results of the
election for prime minister:
- Prime Ministerial
Candidate: Ehud BARAK
Valid Votes Received: 1,791,020
Percent of Valid Votes Received: 56.08
- Prime Ministerial
Candidate: Binyamin NETANYAHU
Valid Votes Received: 1,402,474
Percent of Valid Votes Received: 43.92
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Results of
the electoral race for the Knesset:
- Alliance: One Israel (Labor, Gesher, Meimad)
Leader: Ehud BARAK
Seats won in this election: 26
Seats won in last election: 34 (Labor only)
- Party: Likud
Leader: Binyamin NETANYAHU
Seats won in this election: 19
Seats won in last election: 32 (in electoral alliance with the Gesher and Tsomet parties)
- Party: Shas
Leader: Arieh DERI
Seats won in this election: 17
Seats won in last election: 10
- Party
Alliance: Meretz - Democratic Israel
Leader: Yossi SARID
Seats won in this election: 10
Seats won in last election: 9 (Meretz only)
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When
was the last election? Number of seats in last election?
- Elections for the Knesset and Prime Minister
last held: May 29, 1996
- Seats decided in the 1996 election: 120
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Population
and number of registered voters:
- Population: 5,643,966 (July 1998
estimate)
- Number of registered voters:
4,285,428
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Of Interest:
- The May 1999 poll took place nearly
18 months earlier than the October 31, 2000, scheduled date.
- Among the major issues the new
government must address are those related to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process
negotiations.
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| SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ELECTION SYSTEMS (IFES) |
| For additional information:
IFES ElectionGuide Online |
