Editing Prime Minister of Israel (section)

===Direct election===
{{Politics of Israel}}
During the [[1992 Israeli legislative election|thirteenth Knesset]] (1992–1996) it was decided to hold a separate ballot for prime minister modeled after [[United States presidential election|American presidential elections]].  This system was instituted in part because the Israeli electoral system makes it all but impossible for one party to win a majority.  While only two parties—Mapai/Labour and Likud—had ever led governments, the large number of parties or factions in a typical Knesset usually prevents one party from winning the 61 seats needed for a majority.

In 1996, when the first such [[1996 Israeli general election|election]] took place, the outcome was a surprise win for [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] after election polls predicted that Peres was the winner.<ref>[http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART/977/618.html Prime Minister Netanyahu. Remember?] Maariv, 30 August 2005</ref> However, in the Knesset election held at the same time, Labour won more votes than any other party (27%). Thus Netanyahu, despite his theoretical position of power, needed the support of the religious parties to form a viable government.

Ultimately Netanyahu failed to hold the government together, and early elections for both prime minister and the Knesset were called in [[1999 Israeli legislative election|1999]]. Although five candidates intended to run, the three representing minor parties ([[Benny Begin]] of [[Herut – The National Movement]], [[Azmi Bishara]] of [[Balad (political party)|Balad]], and [[Yitzhak Mordechai]] of the [[Center Party (Israel)|Centre Party]]) dropped out before election day, and [[Ehud Barak]] beat Netanyahu in the [[1999 Israeli general election|election]]. However, the new system again appeared to have failed; although Barak's [[One Israel]] alliance (an alliance of Labour, [[Gesher (1996 political party)|Gesher]], and [[Meimad]]) won more votes than any other party in the Knesset election, they garnered only 26 seats, the lowest ever by a winning party or alliance. Barak needed to form a coalition with six smaller parties to form a government.

In early 2001, Barak resigned following the outbreak of the [[Second Intifada|al-Aqsa Intifada]]. However, the government was not brought down, and only elections for prime minister were necessary. In the [[2001 Israeli prime ministerial election|election itself]], [[Ariel Sharon]] of Likud comfortably beat Barak, taking 62.4% of the vote. However, because Likud only had 21 seats in the Knesset, Sharon had to form a national unity government. Following Sharon's victory, it was decided to do away with separate elections for prime minister and return to the previous system.