April 9th, Israel’s 5.3 million eligible voters will be participating in the 21st general elections in Israel.
To provide a better understanding of the 2019 elections it is worth reiterating the particularities of the Israeli political system.
Who is eligible to vote?
Israel has 8.7 million citizens but only 5.3 eligible voters. Every Israel citizen regardless of gender, ethnic group or religion can vote, however one must be at least 18 years old and has to be physically present in Israel.
Unlike in many European countries, the Israeli diaspora cannot vote at the embassies. Only diplomats are allowed to vote at embassies.
In addition to the regular voting ballots, additional voting station are open in jails, army camps, navy ships and hospitals so that every eligible citizen can vote.
Is voting obligatory?
In Israel voting in not obligatory. Unlike in some European countries there is no fine to be paid if one did not vote. However, all citizens receive a day off work in order to make it easier to go and vote. Even though voting is not mandatory in Israel, the turnout was never under 63% and always had an average of 76, 8% since the first elections in 1949.
How does the election work?
Unlike European countries, Israel does not have a Constitution but a series of basic – constitutional – laws. These are the foundations of the Israeli Democratic State and established its main institutions. Many of these laws stem from the individual liberties outlined in the Israeli Declaration of Independence.
The first basic law, approved in February 1958 under the presidency of David Ben Gurion, is called: The Knesset and it stipulates the election rules.
The Israeli Parliament is called the Knesset after the ancient Jewish parliament according to the Jerusalem Talmud and like the ancient institution, the modern Knesset has 120 members only.
The citizens cast their votes for parties. Every party has an inner list, usually complied by a vote of the party member, setting candidates according to order with the head of the party as the first candidate. There is no option to vote for a particular person in the general elections.
After the elections, the President assigns the task of forming a new government to a Knesset member, who is usually the leader of the largest party and has up to 42 days to form the new government.
In order to enter the parliament, a party must obtain at least 3.25% of the votes (about 3 seats in the parliament). All the votes for parties who did not pass this threshold are disregarded.
Government is formed through the creation of a coalition between parties to obtain at least a 61 seats majority.
Who is running it the up-and-coming elections?
The 11 parties represented in the current Knesset are running for re-election. 3 parties, (The New Right, Taal and Gesher) have broken away current parties and their heads, who are currently serving parliament members will try to run independently. 28 other parties, currently not represented in the Knesset, will also run. Polls show that most new parties have a low chance to enter the parliament with the exception of “Hosen Le’Israel” the party led by former Chief of Army Benny Gantz.