Editing Israeli system of government (section)

===Electoral system===
[[File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - Female Soldier Votes in Israeli Government Elections (1).jpg|thumb|IDF soldier at voting booth]]
Israel's electoral system operates within the parameters of a Basic Law (''The Knesset'') and of the 1969 ''[[Knesset Elections Law]]''.

The Knesset's 120 members are elected by secret ballot to 4-year terms, although the Knesset may decide to call for new elections before the end of the 4-year term, and a government can change without a general election; since the 1988 election, no Knesset has finished its 4-year term.  In addition a [[motion of no confidence]] may be called. Voting in general elections takes place using the [[highest averages method]] of [[party-list proportional representation]], using the [[d'Hondt method|d'Hondt formula]].

General elections use [[closed list]]s: voters vote only for party lists and cannot affect the order of candidates within the lists. Since the 1992 ''Parties Law'', only registered parties may stand. There are no separate electoral districts; all voters vote on the same party lists. [[Suffrage]] is universal among Israeli citizens aged 18 years or older. Voting is optional. Polling locations are open throughout Israel; absentee ballots are limited to diplomatic staff and the [[merchant marine]]. While each party attains one seat for 1 in 120 votes, there is a minimum threshold of 3.25% for parties to attain their first seat in an election.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/description/eng/eng_mimshal_beh.htm|title=The Electoral System in Israel<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> This requirement aimed to bar smaller parties from parliament<!-- more neutral statement is 'intended to make coalition governing easier by banning..., but ref does not say so; I can't change it, maybe someone else --> but spurred some parties to join together simply to overcome the threshold.  The low vote-threshold for entry into parliament, as well as the need for parties with small numbers of seats to form coalition governments, results in a highly fragmented political spectrum, with small parties exercising extensive power (relative to their electoral support) within coalitions.<ref name="Migdalovitz 23">{{cite web |url=http://italy.usembassy.gov/pdf/other/RL33476.pdf |title=Israel: Background and Relations with the United States |publisher=Congressional Research Service (via the U.S. Mission to Italy) |last=Migdalovitz |first=Carol |date=2007-07-06 |access-date=2009-02-20 |pages=23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090222053711/http://italy.usembassy.gov/pdf/other/RL33476.pdf |archive-date=2009-02-22 }}</ref>

The president selects the prime minister as the party leader most able to form a government, based on the number of parliament seats their coalition has won. After the president's selection, the prime minister has forty-five days to form a government. The Knesset collectively must approve the members of the cabinet.  This electoral system, inherited from the [[Yishuv]] (Jewish settlement organization during the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate)]], makes it very difficult for any party to gain a working majority in the Knesset and thus governments generally form on the basis of coalitions.  Due to the difficulties in holding coalitions together, elections often occur earlier than scheduled. The average life-span of an Israeli government is about two years.  Over the years, the peace process, the role of religion in the state, and political scandals have caused coalitions to break apart or have produced early elections.<ref name="Migdalovitz 23"/>