HaKnesset ‎הכנסת الكنيست
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Speaker	Reuven Rivlin, Likud since March 30, 2009
Leader of the Opposition	Shelly Yehimovich, Labor since May 8, 2012
Members	120
Political groups	Coalition members: Likud, Kadima, Yisrael Beiteinu, Independence, Shas, The Jewish Home, United Torah Judaism Opposition: Labor, National Union, New Movement – Meretz, Hadash, United Arab List, Balad, Ta'al
Meeting place
Knesset, Jerusalem, Israel
Website
www.knesset.gov.il

The Knesset (Hebrew: הַכְּנֶסֶת‎ [haˈkneset] ( listen); lit. the gathering^[1] or assembly; Arabic: الكنيست‎) is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.

Role in Israeli Government[link]

The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister (although the latter is ceremonially appointed by the President), approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government. In addition, it also recommends a candidate for the State Comptroller to the President, who appoints someone to the post. It also has the power to waive the immunity of its members, remove the President and the State Comptroller from office, remove a Prime Minister convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude, and to dissolve itself and call new elections. The Prime Minister may dissolve the Knesset. However, until an election is completed, the Knesset maintains authority in its current composition.^[2]

Knesset members annually convene for plenary assemblies, or plenums, for two annual sittings of at least eight months' duration. The two sittings together form a session. The Knesset may be convened at any other time if thirty or more members demand this in writing or if the government requests. As well as approving or rejecting proposed legislation, the plenum also elects the Speaker and one or more Deputy Speakers.^[2]

The Knesset has de jure parliamentary supremacy, and can pass any law by a simple majority, even one that might arguably conflict with the Basic Laws of Israel, unless the Basic Law includes specific conditions for its modification; in accordance with a plan adopted in 1950, the Basic Laws can be adopted and amended by the Knesset, acting in its capacity as a Constituent Assembly.^[3]

While the government is the sponsor of most legislation, bills can also be proposed by committees or individual members or a group of members (such a bill is known as a "private members' bill"). One meeting is set aside each week for the consideration of private members' bills. The Speaker and the Speaker's deputies decide whether to place the bills on the Knesset agenda, and have the power to block any bills that are deemed racist or reject the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. Bills go through three stages, beginning with a first reading, consisting of a general debate in the plenum, presided over by the Speaker or a Deputy Speaker. At this stage, the bill can be accepted, removed from the Knesset table, or returned to the government. If the bill is accepted, it is referred to the appropriate committee for amendments. The bill is then returned to the plenum for a second reading, where the deliberations and voting take place on each section separately. In the third and final reading, the bill is presented in its final form, as adopted in the second reading. The plenum then votes on the bill. While most votes are by a show of hands, certain cases are voted on by secret ballot or roll-call votes. If the bill passes, it is signed by the presiding Speaker, Prime Minister, President, Knesset Speaker, and the minister responsible for the law's implementation. The Minister of Justice then places the state seal on it.^[2][4]

In addition to the absence of a formal constitution, and with no Basic Law thus far being adopted which formally grants a power of judicial review to the judiciary, the Supreme Court of Israel has in recent years asserted its authority, when sitting as the High Court of Justice, to invalidate provisions of Knesset laws it has found to be inconsistent with a Basic Law.^[3][5]

Under Israeli law, any bill whose annual budgetary cost is over NIS 5 million, and is not supported by the government, can only be adopted with the votes of at least 50 Knesset members, at every stage of the legislation.^[4]

Committees[link]

The Knesset is divided into committees, which amend bills on the appropriate subjects. Committee chairpersons are chosen by their members, on recommendation of the House Committee, and their factional composition represents that of the Knesset itself. Committees may elect sub-committees and delegate powers to them, or establish joint committees for issues concerning more than one committee. To further their deliberations, they invite government ministers, senior officials, and experts in the matter being discussed. Committees may request explanation and information from any relevant ministers in any matter within their competence, and the ministers or persons appointed by them must provide the explanation or information requested.^[2]

There are four types of committees in the Knesset. Permanent committees amend proposed legislation dealing with their area of expertise, and may initiate legislation. However, such legislation may only deal with Basic Laws and laws dealing with the Knesset, elections to the Knesset, Knesset members, or the State Comptroller. Special committees function in a similar manner to permanent committees, but are appointed to deal with particular manners at hand, and can be dissolved or turned into permanent committees. Parliamentary inquiry committees are appointed by the plenum to deal with issues viewed as having special national importance. In addition, there are two types of committees that convene only when needed: the Interpretations Committee, made up of the Speaker and eight members chosen by the House Committee, deals with appeals against the interpretation given by the Speaker during a sitting of the plenum to the Knesset rules of procedure or precedents, and Public Committees, established to deal with issues that are connected to the Knesset.^[4][6]

Permanent committees:

• House Committee
• Finance Committee
• Economic Affairs Committee
• Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee
• Interior and Environment Committee
• Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs Committee
• Education, Culture, and Sports Committee
• Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee
• Labour, Welfare, and Health Committee
• Science and Technology Committee
• State Control Committee
• Committee on the Status of Women

Special committees:

• Committee on Drug Abuse
• Committee on the Rights of the Child
• Committee on Foreign Workers
• Public Petitions Committee

The other committees are the Arrangements Committee and the Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee is responsible for jurisdiction over Knesset members who violate the rules of ethics of the Knesset, or involved in illegal activities outside the Knesset. Within the framework of responsibility, the Ethics Committee may place various sanctions on a member, but is not allowed to restrict a members' right to vote. The Arrangements Committee proposes the makeup of the permanent committees following each election, as well as suggesting committee chairs, lays down the sitting arrangements of political parties in the Knesset, and the distribution of rooms in the Knesset building to members and parties.^[7]

Size[link]

Knesset chamber, celebrating 61 years of the Knesset

The size of the Knesset, currently at 120 members, has often been a source of cause for proposed reforms. In 1996, then-Justice Minister Yossi Beilin^[8] backed the ultimately unsuccessful institution of the so-called "Norwegian law", which would require appointed members of the cabinet to resign their seats in the Knesset and allow other members of their parties to take their positions while they serve in the cabinet; this would have resulted in more active members of the legislature being present in regular sessions and committee meetings. This proposed law has also been favoured by other politicians, including Yitzhak Levy (who has backed the raising of total seats to 150)^[9] and current prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.^[10]

Elections[link]

The 120 members of the Knesset (MKs) are directly elected to four-year terms, subject to calls for early elections (which are quite common). All Israeli citizens 18 years or older may vote in legislative elections, which are conducted by secret ballot.

Knesset seats are allocated among the various parties using the D'Hondt method of party list proportional representation. Israel requires a party to meet an election threshold of 2% of the overall vote to be allocated a Knesset seat. Parties select their candidates using a closed list. Thus, voters select the party of their choice, not any specific candidate. Elections are conducted by secret ballot.

In practice, the Knesset's ability to legislate has often been limited due to the consequences of Israel's low 2% threshold of eligibility for a party to obtain a seat (one of the world's lowest; though it was previously at 1%, then 1.5%). As a result, no party has ever gained a majority on its own (the most being 56 seats), and thus the government is formed on the basis of a coalition. The inherent instability of the coalitions (the average life span of an Israeli government is 25 months) results in numerous successful no-confidence motions, which automatically dissolve the Knesset and necessitates an early election call.

History[link]

The Knesset first convened on February 14, 1949, following the 20 January elections, succeeding the Assembly of Representatives that had functioned as the Jewish community's parliament during the Mandate era.

The term "Knesset" is derived from the ancient Great Assembly or Great Synagogue (Hebrew: כְּנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה‎) which according to Jewish tradition was an assembly of 120 scribes, sages, and prophets, in the period from the end of the Biblical prophets to the time of the development of Rabbinic Judaism – about two centuries ending c. 70 CE. There is, however, no organisational continuity and – aside from the number of members – little similarity, as the ancient Knesset was an essentially religious, completely unelected body.

The Knesset in winter

The Knesset sits on a hilltop in western Jerusalem in a district known as Sheikh Badr before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, now Givat Ram. It was financed by James A. de Rothschild as a gift to the State of Israel. It was built on land leased from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.^[11]

Before the construction of its permanent home, the Knesset met in the Jewish Agency building in Jerusalem, the Kessem Cinema building in Tel Aviv and the Froumine building in Jerusalem.^[12]

Timeline[link]

• February 14, 1949: First meeting of the Constituent Assembly, Jewish Agency, Jerusalem
• March 8, 1949 – December 14, 1949: Kessem Cinema in Tel Aviv (Migdal HaOpera is situated there today)
• December 26, 1949 – March 8, 1950: Jewish Agency, Jerusalem
• March 13, 1950: Froumine Building, King George Street, Jerusalem.
• 1950–1955: Israeli government holds architectural competitions for the permanent Knesset building
• 1955: Government approves plans to build the Knesset in its current location
• 1957: James A. de Rothschild informs Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion of his desire to finance the construction of the building
• October 14, 1958: Cornerstone-laying for new Knesset building
• August 31, 1966: Dedication of new building (in the days of the Sixth Knesset)
• 1981: Construction of new wing begins
• 1992: New wing opens
• 2005: Construction of another new wing

Knesset assemblies[link]

Each Knesset session is known by its election number. Thus the Knesset elected by Israel's first election in 1949 is known as the First Knesset. The current Knesset, elected in 2009, is the Eighteenth Knesset.

Current Knesset[link]

Historic engraving on Froumine Building, King George St., Jerusalem.

The composition of the current Knesset was determined by the 2009 election. At present there are 18 parties represented in the Knesset on 12 lists (some parties run for election together on joint lists), and Labor has split since the Knesset convened, creating the Independence party.

The parties in the current Knesset are shown in the table below.

1. ^ United Torah Judaism is an alliance of Agudat Israel and Degel HaTorah.
2. ^ The National Union is an alliance of Eretz Yisrael Shelanu, Hatikva, Moledet and Tkuma. National Union and The Jewish Home announced a merger on July 7, 2010 for the next election. The combined party will be named National Union-Jewish Home.^[13]

February 2009 elections[link]

The Knesset was reconstituted following elections in February 2009, which resulted 28 seats for Kadima, 27 for Likud, 15 for Yisrael Beiteinu, 13 for Labour, 12 for three small religious parties (5 for United Torah Judaism, 4 for National Union and 3 for Jewish Home), 11 for Shas, 7 for two Arab parties (4 for Ta'al, 3 for Balad), 4 for the non-Zionist Hadash, and 3 for the left-wing Jewish party Meretz.

Although the Central Elections Committee attempted to ban the participation of the two Arab parties United Arab List-Ta'al and Balad for alleged disloyalty to the state and support of Israel's enemies, the ban was, by a vote of 8 to 1, overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court, allowing the parties to participate.^[14][15]

Israel portal

Unity Government 2012[link]

An election for the leadership of Likud was held on 31 January 2012. Netanyahu defeated his rival Moshe Feiglin, winning 77% of the vote.^[16]

Kadima called for election for their leadership and primaries were held on 27 March 2012, pitting Tzipi Livni against Shaul Mofaz.^[16] Mofaz won with 62% of the vote. In May 2012 Livni resigned from the Knesset.^[17]

On the eve of 07 May 2012, after weeks of deliberation and rumours, Netanyahu called for an early national election and proposed September 4 as the election day.

In a dramatic turn of events, that very night Netanyahu announced that he had forged a unity government with the opposition Kadima Party, effectively retracting the call for early elections. The next afternoon, 08 May 2012 Likud and Kadima signed a coalition agreement placing Kadima as the Governments largest party with 28 seats, even larger than Likud (27 seats). Mofaz was appointed as Active Vice Premier (in absence of Netanyahu) and Minister Without Portfolio.

This unity bolstered the government to what has often erroneously been termed the widest government in Israel's history. A coalition of 94 seats and an opposition of 26 seats.^[16]

Tourism[link]

The Knesset holds morning tours in Hebrew, English, French, Spanish, Arabic, German and Russian, on Sunday and Thursday and there are also live session viewing times on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.^[18]

Security[link]

A member of the Knesset Guard

The Knesset is protected by the Knesset Guard, a protective security unit responsible for the security of the Knesset building and Knesset members. Guards are stationed outside the building to provide armed protection, and ushers are stationed inside to maintain order. The Knesset Guard also plays a ceremonial role, participating in state ceremonies which includes greeting dignitaries on Mount Herzl on the eve of Israeli Independence Day.

See also[link]

• Elections in Israel
• Frumin House (Old Knesset)
• Knesset Guard
• List of Arab members of the Knesset
• List of Knesset members
• List of Knesset speakers
• List of Likud Knesset Members
• Yahad (defunct political party)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website (English)
• Parliament building envisioned by Herzl, Boris Schatz and Richard Kaufmann
• Planning and Construction History in Photographs

v t e Elections in Israel Parliamentary elections 1920* 1923** 1925* 1931* 1944* 1949 1951 1955 1959 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1984 1988 1992 1996 1999 2003 2006 2009 Next Prime ministerial elections 1996 1999 2001 * Assembly of Representatives elections   ** Legislative Council elections

v t e Knesset members by Knesset 1 (1949-51) · 2 (1951-55) · 3 (1955-59) · 4 (1959-61) · 5 (1961-65) · 6 (1965-69) · 7 (1969-74) · 8 (1974-77) · 9 (1977-81) · 10 (1981-84) · 11 (1984-88) · 12 (1988-92) · 13 (1992-96) · 14 (1996-99) · 15 (1999-2003) · 16 (2003-06) · 17 (2006-09) · 18 (2009-)

Coordinates: 31°46′36″N 35°12′19″E / 31.77667°N 35.20528°E / 31.77667; 35.20528

Haneen Zoabi
Date of birth	(1969-05-23) 23 May 1969 (age 43)
Place of birth	Nazareth, Israel
Knessets	18
Party	Balad

Haneen Zoabi, also Hanin Zoubi, (Arabic: حنين زعبي‎, born 23 May 1969), is a Palestinian Arab and an Israeli citizen,^[1] the first Arab Israeli woman to be elected to the Israeli legislative body on an Arab party's list.^[2] Zoabi ran in the 2009 legislative elections on the Balad party.^[2][1]

Biography[link]

Haneen Zoabi was born in Nazareth to a Muslim family.^[3] Zoabi studied philosophy and psychology at the University of Haifa, earning a Bachelors of Arts, and received a Masters of Arts in communications from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.^[4] She was the first Arab citizen of Israel to graduate in media studies, and established the first media classes in Arab schools.^[2] She also worked as a math teacher and worked as a school inspector for the Israeli Ministry of Education.^[2]

She is a relative of Seif el-Din el-Zoubi, a former mayor of Nazareth and member of the Knesset between 1949 and 1959, and again from 1965 until 1979, and Abd el-Aziz el-Zoubi, a Deputy Health Minister and the first Arab member of an Israeli government.^[5]

Political career[link]

Zoabi joined Balad in 2001.^[4] In 2003, she co-founded the NGO I'lam – Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel (pronounced e'e'lam). Zoabi was its general director until she resigned shortly before the 2009 election to focus on her political career.^[4]

Prior to the 2009 elections she won third place on the Balad list, and entered the Knesset after the party won three seats. She became the first female Arab MK to represent an Arab party (though preceded by Hussniya Jabara and Nadia Hilou on other lists).^[6] Zoabi ran for Knesset as a Balad candidate in 2006, but was too low on the party's electoral list to win a seat.^[4]

Political views and opinions[link]

Zoabi rejects the idea of Israel as a Jewish state, which she describes as "inherently racist." She has argued that this is the only way to combat Avigdor Lieberman's demand that Israeli citizens take loyalty oaths: "Balad's concept, which rejects the 'Jewish state' idea, is the only idea that can remove [Avigdor] Lieberman from the circle of political and moral legitimacy...When you agree with the 'Jewish state' idea, you necessarily agree with the idea of loyalty to this state. Rejecting the 'Jewish state' concept will block the road for anyone who demands our loyalty to such a state."^[7]Zoabi sees no difference between Lieberman and more mainstream Israeli politicians, saying that Lieberman, Tzipi Livni, and Benjamin Netanyahu are "all a bunch of fascists pure and simple."^[4]

In 2009, she met with Code Pink, and Coalition of Women for Peace.^[8]

At the 18th Knesset swearing-in ceremony on February 24, 2009, she left the Knesset plenum before the singing of Hatikva, Israel's national anthem. "'Hatikva' doesn't represent me", she later said. "I preferred to leave the room, because I don't appreciate hypocrisy."^[9] She has voiced support for Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons, saying “I need something to balance its [Israel’s] power.”^[7]

Zoabi rejects any form of national service for Israel's Arab citizens.^[10] In an interview with Jonathan Cook, Zoabi said: "It is frustrating and exhausting having always to be on the defensive about why I identify as a Palestinian, why I am not a Zionist, why the Jewish state is not democratic and cannot represent me, why I am entitled to citizenship. It is a Sisyphean labor."^[2]

Participation in the Gaza flotilla[link]

On 31 May 2010 Zoabi participated in the Gaza Flotilla. ^[11] She was on board the MV Mavi Marmara where violence broke out when IDF commandos boarded the ship with intention of redirecting it to the port of Ashdod.^[12] In a speech at the Knesset, Zoabi describing the raid as a "pirate military operation."^[13] During her speech, she was repeatedly interrupted by the other Israeli lawmakers, who furiously shouted "Go to Gaza, traitor"! During her address she said: "Israel spoke of a provocation, but there was no provocation. Why does the government of Israel oppose an investigation?" Later in a press conference she elaborated: "It was clear from the size of the force that boarded the ship that the purpose was not only to stop this sail[ing], but to cause the largest possible number of fatalities in order to stop such initiatives in the future."^[14]

Two security guards were assigned for her protection after she received death threats. One man who offered a reward on Facebook of free groceries for killing Zoabi was arrested.^[15][16]

Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai requested that Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein revoke Zoabi's parliamentary immunity and authorize Yishai to strip Zoabi of her Israeli citizenship. Yishai accused Zoabi of engaging in a "premeditated act of treason", and claimed she used her immunity to protect her from prosecution, even though she assisted activists and was "undoubtedly aware" of their preparations to attack IDF soldiers.^[17] Likud MK Yariv Levin also accused Zoubi of betraying the State of Israel, and called for her prosecution.^[18]

A Knesset committee voted 7–1 to recommend her parliamentary immunity be revoked,^[19] which attracted concern from the Inter-Parliamentary Union^[20] and was ultimately blocked by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, who ignored the recommendation and declined to submit it to a vote of the full Knesset.^[19]

When the full Knesset met on 13 July 2010, it decided, in a 34–16 vote, to strip her of three parliamentary privileges as a penalty for her participation in the flotilla: the right to have a diplomatic passport, entitlement to financial assistance should she require legal help, and the right to visit countries with which Israel does not have diplomatic relations.^[21] She was also stripped of the right to participate in Knesset discussions and to vote in parliamentary committees.^[22]

In 2011, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein closed the case against Zoabi "as result of significant evidentiary and legal difficulties."^[23]

Altercation in the Knesset[link]

In 2011, Zoabi was accused of assaulting a female usher of the Knesset after she was asked to leave for heckling during a speech. Zoabi subsequently apologised to the usher, writing “I didn’t intend to push or harm you. I respect you and your work. I apologized in the press at my own volition without anyone have to tell me to.” A majority of the MKs in the House Committee said they were satisfied with Zoabi’s apology and would not consider further action.^[24]

See also[link]

• List of Arab members of the Knesset

References[link]