List of political parties in Israel
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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 2024[update], have been coalitions comprising two or more parties.
Current parties
[edit]Parties represented in the Knesset
[edit]The following parties are represented following the 2022 election:
| Party or alliance | Ideology | Political position | Symbol | Leader | Knesset | Status | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Likud[a] | Right-wing | מחל محل | Benjamin Netanyahu | 36 / 120 | Government | ||||
 | Yesh Atid | Centre[1] | פה فه | Yair Lapid | 24 / 120 | Opposition | ||||
 | Shas[a] | Social: Right-wing Fiscal: Centre-left |
שס شس | Aryeh Deri | 11 / 120 | Government | ||||
 | Blue & White | Centre | כן كن | Benny Gantz | 8 / 120 | Opposition | ||||
 | Religious Zionist Party[a] | Far-right[3] | ט ط | Bezalel Smotrich | 7 / 120 | Government | ||||
 | United Torah Judaism[a] | Agudat Yisrael | Right-wing | ג ج | Moshe Gafni | 7 / 120 | Government | |||
| Degel HaTorah | ||||||||||
 | Otzma Yehudit[a] | Far-right | Itamar Ben-Gvir | 6 / 120 | Government | |||||
| Yisrael Beiteinu | Right-wing | ל ل | Avigdor Lieberman | 6 / 120 | Opposition | |||||
 | United Arab List | עם عم | Mansour Abbas | 5 / 120 | Opposition | |||||
 | Hadash– Ta'al | Hadash (Maki) |
|
Left-wing | ום وم | Ayman Odeh | 5 / 120 | Opposition | ||
| Ta'al | ||||||||||
 | The Democrats[b] | Centre-left[6] to left-wing[4] | אמת | Yair Golan | 4 / 120 | Opposition | ||||
 | Noam[a] | Far-right | כ | Avi Maoz | 1 / 120 | Government | ||||
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Part of the national camp.
- ↑ Elected as Israeli Labor Party MKs. In July 2024, Labor merged with Meretz to form The Democrats.
- ↑ The Democrats were founded by the merger of two labor Zionist parties, Israeli Labor Party and Meretz, but The Democrats define themselves as "liberal-democratic Zionist", not officially "labor Zionism".[4][5]
Expected to stand in 2026
[edit]| Party or alliance | Ideology | Political position | Leader | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Bennett 2026 | Right-wing | Naftali Bennett | ||
| Oz[7] | Einat Wilf | ||||
 |
Reservists |
|
Centre-right | Yoaz Hendel | |
 |
Yashar | Zionism | Centre | Gadi Eisenkot | |
Other parties
[edit]The following parties do not have Knesset seats at present:
- Balad (held seats from 1996 to 2022)
- Derekh Eretz
- Dor
- Eretz Hadasha
- Free Democratic Israel[8]
- Meimad (held seats between 1999 and 2009 as part of the One Israel alliance)
- New Right
- Telem[9]
- Tzomet (held seats between 1987 and 1999; for the 1996 elections, it formed a joint "National Camp List" with Likud and Gesher)
- Zehut
Former parties
[edit]Parties formerly represented in the Knesset
[edit]Parties that failed to win seats in the Knesset
[edit]| Name | Letter | Political position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hatzohar | ג | Right-wing | Original Revisionist Zionist party, disbanded after failing to cross the electoral threshold in the 1949 elections. |
| Popular Arab Bloc | ת | Left-wing to far-left | Arab satellite list that ran in the 1949 elections. Affiliated with Mapam |
| Tafnit | פ | Centre | Ran in the 2006 elections. |
| Women's Party | נס | Centre-left to Left-wing | Ran in the 1977 elections. |
| Yamin Yisrael | יד | Right-wing | Broke away from Moledet, another right-wing party, prior to the 1996 elections, but failed to cross the electoral threshold. |
| The Arab List - The Center | צח | Centre | Arab satellite list that ran in the 1955 elections. Affiliated with General Zionists |
Family tree of parties in Israel
[edit]Zionist youth movements
[edit]| Name | Meaning | Movement | Association | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Betar | League of Joseph Trumpeldor | Revisionist | Likud | Historically associated with Herut, and now Likud. | |
| Bnei Akiva | Sons of Akiva | Religious | The Jewish Home | Historically associated with Mafdal, and now The Jewish Home. | |
| Habonim Dror | The Builders of Freedom | Labor | Labor Party | Associated with the Labor Zionism and the United Kibbutz Movement, and unofficially with the Israeli Labor Party. | |
| Hashomer Hatzair | The Young Guard | Labor | Meretz | Associated with the left faction of Labor Zionism, historically associated with Mapam and the Kibbutz Artzi movement, and unofficially with Meretz. | |
| HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed | The Working and Learning Youth | Labor | Labor Party | Associated with the Labor Zionist movement, Histadrut, and unofficially with the Israeli Labor Party. | |
| Meretz Youth | Meretz Youth | Labor | Meretz | Youth wing of Meretz (under 18), now associated with The Democrats | |
| Noar HaAvoda | Labor Youth | Labor | Labor Party | Young-wing of the Israeli Labor Party (under 18), now associated with The Democrats. | |
| Noar HaIhud HaLeumi | National Union Youth | Religious | Religious Zionist | Youth wing of the Religious Zionist Party. | |
| Noar HaGvaot | Hilltop Youth | Religious | Otzma Yehudit | Historically associated with Kach, and its various successor parties. | |
| Noar Yesh Atid | Yesh Atid Youth | Liberal | Yesh Atid | Youth wing of Yesh Atid (under 18). | |
| HaMahanot HaOlim | The Immigrants Camps | Labor | None | Associated with the Labor Zionist movement. | |
| HaNoar HaTzioni | The Zionist Youth | Liberal | None | Historically associated with the General Zionists. | |
| Ariel | Lion of God | Religious | Religious Zionist | Split from Bnei Akiva, unofficially associated with Religious Zionist Party. | |
| HaNoar HaDati HaOved VeHaLomed | The Religious Working and Studying Youth | Religious | None | Founded in 1952, historically associated with Hapoel HaMizrachi. | |
| Noar HaLikud | The Likud Youth | Revisionist | Likud | Youth wing of Likud (under 18). | |
| Young Meretz | Young Meretz | Labor | Meretz | Young-wing of Meretz (18-35). | |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Israel's fragile coalition faces early survival test – DW – 06/03/2021". dw.com. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- ↑ "Hareidi Party Joins WZO". Arutz Sheva. 20 January 2010. Archived from the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
- ↑ Stuart Winer; Staff writer (17 March 2024). "PM said to scrap vote on head for civil service panel amid coalition opposition". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
- 1 2 Sokol, Sam (30 June 2024). "Labor and Meretz merge into a united "liberal-democratic Zionist party": The Democrats". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
In a joint statement, the new left-wing party said that the merger was "not a 'technical bloc,' but rather a historic process that produced, finally, one large and united party, a liberal-democratic Zionist party that will be a political home for a large part of the Israeli population."
- ↑ "Labor and Meretz merge into united 'liberal-democratic Zionist party': The Democrats". The Times of Israel. 30 June 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
- ↑ "Israel".
- ↑ Botbol, Amelie (24 November 2025). "'Shape the future': Einat Wilf outlines her new party's manifesto". JNS.
- ↑ Keller-Lynn, Carrie (2 August 2022). "Promising to pursue Netanyahu, libertarian rebel MK Avidar announces own party". The Times of Israel.
- ↑ Wootliff, Raoul (2 January 2019). "Former defense chief Ya'alon launches new political party, Telem". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
External links
[edit]- Parties participating in the 2006 elections Knesset website (in English)
- All parliamentary groups Knesset website (in English)
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