Editing Knesset (section)

==Knesset elections==
{{main|Elections in Israel}}
The 120 members of the Knesset (MKs)<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/by-the-lists-all-120-incoming-knesset-members/|title=All 120 incoming Knesset members|work=The Times of Israel|access-date=6 June 2017|language=en-US}}</ref> are popularly elected from a single nationwide electoral district to concurrent 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]]. A party or electoral alliance must pass an [[election threshold]] of 3.25%<ref>[https://www.knesset.gov.il/spokesman/eng/PR_eng.asp?PRID=11193 www.knesset.gov.il]</ref> of the overall vote to be allocated a Knesset seat (in 2022, one seat for every 152,000 votes). Parties select their candidates using a [[closed list]]. Thus, voters select the party of their choice, not any specific candidate.

The electoral threshold was previously set at 1% from 1949 to 1992, then 1.5% from 1992 to 2003, and then 2% until March 2014 when the current threshold of 3.25% was passed (effective with elections for the 20th Knesset).<ref name="newthreshold325">{{cite news |last=Lis |first=Jonathan |title=Israel raises electoral threshold to 3.25 percent |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.579289 |work=Haaretz |date=12 March 2014 |access-date=8 January 2015}}</ref> As a result of the low threshold, a typical Knesset has 10 or more factions represented. No party or faction has ever won the 61 seats necessary for a majority; the closest being the 56 seats won by the [[Alignment (political party)|Alignment]] in the [[1969 Israeli legislative election|1969 elections]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=1969 Election |url=https://www.idi.org.il/policy/parties-and-elections/elections/1969/ |access-date=24 May 2022 |website=[[Israel Democracy Institute]] |language=he}}</ref> (the Alignment had briefly held 63 seats going into the 1969 elections after being formed shortly beforehand by the merger of several parties, the only occasion on which any party or faction has ever held a majority).<ref>{{Cite web |title=להקים מחדש את "המערך" |url=https://www.israelhayom.co.il/opinion/167795 |access-date=19 May 2022 |website=www.israelhayom.co.il |language=he}}</ref> As a result, while there have never been more than three numerically major parties at any time and only four parties (or their antecedents) have ever led governments, all Israeli governments have been coalitions.

After an election, the president meets with the leaders of every party that won Knesset seats and asks them to recommend which party leader should form the government. The president then nominates the party leader who is most likely to command the support of a majority in the Knesset (though not necessarily the leader of the largest party/faction in the chamber). The prime minister-designate has 42 days to put together a viable government (extensions can be granted and often are), and then must win a vote of confidence in the Knesset before taking office.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

The following is a list of Knesset elections:
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[1949 Israeli Constituent Assembly election]]
*[[1951 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[1955 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[1959 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[1961 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[1965 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[1969 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[1973 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[1977 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[1981 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[1984 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[1988 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[1992 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[1996 Israeli general election]]
*[[1999 Israeli general election]]
*[[2003 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[2006 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[2009 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[2013 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[2015 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[April 2019 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[September 2019 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[2020 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[2021 Israeli legislative election]]
*[[2022 Israeli legislative election]]
{{div col end}}