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55-615: The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 2nd Knesset . Mapai retained its plurality in the Knesset, although its share of the vote dropped by 5.1 and its share of seats dropped from 47 (at the end of the Second Knesset) to 40. Meanwhile, Herut overtook the General Zionists , Mapam , and Hapoel HaMizrachi to become the second-largest party, with its share of seats nearly doubling (from 8 in

110-762: A Speaker and Deputy Speakers, called the Knesset Presidium, which currently consists of: Knesset committees amend bills on various appropriate subjects. Knesset members are assigned to committees, while chairpersons are chosen by their members, on recommendation of the House Committee, and their factional composition represents that of the Knesset itself. Committees may elect sub-committees and delegate powers to them, or establish joint committees for issues concerning more than one committee. To further their deliberations, they invite non-voting people, like government ministers, senior officials, and experts in

165-465: A constructive vote of no confidence , and to dissolve itself and call new elections. The prime minister may also dissolve the Knesset. However, until an election is completed, the Knesset maintains authority in its current composition. The Knesset meets in Givat Ram , Jerusalem. Members of the Knesset are elected nationwide through proportional representation . The term "Knesset" is derived from

220-582: A majority of both Jews and Arabs in Israel are proud to be citizens of the country, both groups share a distrust of Israel's government, including the Knesset. Almost three quarters of Israelis surveyed said corruption in Israel's political leadership was either "widespread or somewhat prevalent". A majority of both Arabs and Jews trusted the Israel Defense Forces , the President of Israel , and

275-622: A matter of course. According to Yoel Bin Nun , a total of 120 names are recorded among those returning to Judea with Zerubbabel ( Ezra 1–2 ), another 120 in Ezra 10 , and another 120 in Nehemiah 11–12 , suggesting that throughout this period some kind of forum with 120 members was used to represent the people. Numerous sources in rabbinic literature indicate that the Great Assembly existed in

330-624: A motion of no-confidence against the government. As the legislative branch of the Israeli government , the Knesset passes all laws , elects the president , approves the cabinet , and supervises the work of the government through its committees. It also has the power to waive the immunity of its members, remove the president and the State Comptroller from office, and to dissolve itself and call new elections. The Knesset has de jure parliamentary supremacy , and can pass any law by

385-529: A simple majority, even one that might arguably conflict with the Basic Laws of Israel , unless the basic law includes specific conditions for its modification; in accordance with a plan adopted in 1950, the Basic Laws can be adopted and amended by the Knesset, acting in its capacity as a Constituent Assembly . The Knesset itself is regulated by a Basic Law called "Basic Law: the Knesset". In addition to

440-469: A survivor of the Great Assembly, for, according to rabbinic tradition, it was he who met Alexander. The term "Great Assembly" ( knesset hagedolah ) primarily referred to the assembly of Nehemiah 9–10, which convened principally for religious purposes—fasting, reading of the Torah, confession of sins, and prayer. Since every gathering for religious purposes was called knesset , this term was applied also to

495-470: A variety of views regarding the nature of the Great Assembly. These can be divided into four categories: Some modern scholars suggest that rather than describing a specific institution, the term "Great Assembly" is a reference to a specific time period (between the return from Babylonian captivity and the Macedonian conquest ). Louis Jacobs , while not endorsing this view, remarks that "references in

550-401: A viable government (extensions can be granted and often are), and then must win a vote of confidence in the Knesset before taking office. The following is a list of Knesset elections: The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 25th Knesset . Each Knesset session is known by its election number. Thus the Knesset elected by Israel's first election in 1949 is known as

605-595: Is found: "R. Johanan said, and some say it was taught in a baraita , that 120 elders, including several prophets, instituted the Shemoneh Esreh ." Thus, prophets formed a minority in the Great Assembly. According to the Babylonian Talmud , the date of Purim was fixed by the men of the Great Assembly, while the Jerusalem Talmud speaks of "85 elders, among them about 30 prophets" enacting

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660-672: Is little similarity, as the ancient Knesset was a religious, completely unelected body. Members of the Knesset are known in Hebrew as חֲבֵר הַכְּנֶסֶת ( Haver HaKnesset ), if male, or חַבְרַת הַכְּנֶסֶת ( Havrat HaKnesset ), if female. The Knesset first convened on 14 February 1949 in Jerusalem following the 20 January elections , replacing the Provisional State Council which acted as Israel's official legislature from its date of independence on 14 May 1948 and succeeding

715-531: The 1969 elections (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). 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,

770-519: The Amidah prayer was established by the "men of the Great Assembly". Similarly, R. Jeremiah (4th century) attributed the establishment of the Amidah to "120 elders, including about 80 prophets". These 120 elders are undoubtedly identical with the men of the Great Assembly. The number given of the prophets must, however, be corrected according to Megillah 17b, where the source of R. Jeremiah's statement

825-762: The Assembly of Representatives that had functioned as the Jewish community 's representative body during the Mandate era. Before the construction of its current location, the Knesset met in Tel Aviv, before moving to the Froumine building in Jerusalem. The Knesset compound sits on a hilltop in western Jerusalem in a district known as Sheikh Badr before the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , now Givat Ram . The main building

880-530: The Book of Nehemiah . Tradition therefore ascribed to it the character of a chief magistracy, and its members, or rather its leaders, including the prophets of that time, were regarded as the authors of other obligatory rules. These leaders of post-exilic Israel in the Persian period were called the "men of the Great Assembly" because it was generally assumed that all those who then acted as leaders had been members of

935-609: The First Knesset . The current Knesset, elected in 2022, is the Twenty-fifth Knesset. The Knesset holds morning tours in Hebrew, Arabic, English, French, Spanish, German, and Russian on Sunday and Thursday, and there are also live session viewing times on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings. The Knesset is protected by the Knesset Guard , a protective security unit responsible for the security of

990-613: The Supreme Court of Israel , but Jews and Arabs reported similar levels of mistrust, with little more than a third of each group claiming confidence in the Knesset. 31°46′36″N 35°12′19″E  /  31.77667°N 35.20528°E  / 31.77667; 35.20528 Great Assembly According to Jewish tradition the Great Assembly ( Hebrew : כְּנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה , romanized :  Kəneset haGədōlā , also translated as Great Synagogue or Synod )

1045-464: The president and prime minister (although the former is ceremonially appointed by the Prime Minister), approves the cabinet , and supervises the work of the government, among other things. In addition, the Knesset elects the state comptroller . It also has the power to waive the immunity of its members, remove the president and the state comptroller from office, dissolve the government in

1100-570: The Arrangements Committee and the Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee is responsible for jurisdiction over Knesset members who violate the rules of ethics of the Knesset, or are involved in illegal activities outside the Knesset. Within the framework of responsibility, the Ethics Committee may place various sanctions on a member, but is not allowed to restrict a member's right to vote. The Arrangements Committee proposes

1155-584: The Great Assembly"), traditionally included such figures as Haggai , Zechariah , Malachi , Ezra , Nehemiah , Daniel , Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah , Mordechai and Zerubbabel . Among the developments in Judaism that are attributed to the rabbis of this period are the fixing of the Jewish biblical canon (including the Book of Ezekiel , Daniel , Esther , and the Twelve Minor Prophets );

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1210-552: The Interpretations Committee, made up of the Speaker and eight members chosen by the House Committee, deals with appeals against the interpretation given by the Speaker during a sitting of the plenum to the Knesset rules of procedure or precedents, and Public Committees, established to deal with issues that are connected to the Knesset. Permanent committees: Special committees: The other committees are

1265-485: The Jewish community in Israel. According to the rabbinic chronology, the period of Persian rule lasted just 34 years, at the beginning of the period of the Second Temple, therefore Abba bar Kahana speaks of a single "generation of the men of the Great Assembly". Modern chroniclers, however, put the period of Persian rule at c. 190 years, spanning several generations (see Missing years (Jewish calendar) ). As

1320-569: The Knesset building and Knesset members. Guards are stationed outside the building to provide armed protection, and ushers are stationed inside to maintain order. The Knesset Guard also plays a ceremonial role, participating in state ceremonies, which includes greeting dignitaries on Mount Herzl on the eve of Israeli Independence Day . A poll conducted by the Israeli Democracy Institute in April and May 2014 showed that while

1375-479: The Knesset, a government has only been defeated by one once, when Yitzhak Shamir 's government was brought down on 15 March 1990 as part of a plot that became known as " the dirty trick ". However, several governments have resigned as a result of no-confidence motions, even when they were not defeated. These include the fifth government , which fell after Prime Minister Moshe Sharett resigned in June 1955 following

1430-478: The Knesset, elections to the Knesset, Knesset members, or the State Comptroller . Special committees function in a similar manner to permanent committees, but are appointed to deal with particular manners at hand, and can be dissolved or turned into permanent committees. Parliamentary inquiry committees are appointed by the plenum to deal with issues viewed as having special national importance. In addition, there are two types of committees that convene only when needed:

1485-535: The Knesset. The Knesset Christian Allies Caucus and the Knesset Land of Israel Caucus are two of the largest and most active caucuses. The Knesset numbers 120 members, after the size of the Great Assembly . The subject of Knesset membership has often been a cause for proposed reforms. Under the Norwegian Law , Knesset members who are appointed to ministerial positions are allowed to resign and allow

1540-550: The Second Knesset to 15 in the Third). The Third Knesset is notable for being the only Knesset thus far in which none of the represented parties merged or split (although two parties did change their names) and no MKs switched parties , making it the most stable Knesset in Israel's history. Unlike the second Knesset , the third Knesset was one of the most stable in Israel's history. There were only two governments, and it

1595-459: The absence of a formal constitution , and with no Basic Law thus far being adopted which formally grants a power of judicial review to the judiciary , the Supreme Court of Israel has since the early 1990s asserted its authority, when sitting as the High Court of Justice, to invalidate provisions of Knesset laws it has found to be inconsistent with Basic Law. The Knesset is presided over by

1650-651: The abstention of the General Zionists (part of the governing coalition) during a vote of no-confidence; the ninth government , which fell after Prime Minister Ben-Gurion resigned in January 1961 over a motion of no-confidence on the Lavon Affair ; and the seventeenth government , which resigned in December 1976 after the National Religious Party (part of the governing coalition) abstained in

1705-473: The ancient Knesset HaGdola ( Hebrew : כְּנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה ) or " Great Assembly ", which according to Jewish tradition was an assembly of 120 scribes, sages, and prophets, in the period from the end of the Biblical prophets to the time of the development of Rabbinic Judaism – about two centuries ending c. 200 BCE. There is, however, no organisational continuity and aside from the number of members, there

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1760-437: The assembly in question; but as it was an assembly of special importance it was designated more specifically as the "Great Assembly". For similar reasons, another important religious gathering in this period was known as the kehillah gedolah ("great gathering"). In addition to fixing the ritual observances for the first two quarters of the day, the Great Assembly engaged in legislative proceedings, making laws as summarized in

1815-431: The coalition. Elections for the fourth Knesset were called for 3 November 1959. Knesset Opposition (52) The Knesset ( Hebrew : הַכְּנֶסֶת , romanized :  HaKnesset [haˈkneset] lit.   ' gathering, assembly ' , Arabic : الْكِنِيسِت , romanized :  al-Kinisit ) is the unicameral legislature of Israel . The Knesset passes all laws, elects

1870-557: The early Second Temple period were ascribed to Ezra, so others of them were ascribed to the "men of the Great Assembly". There is no difference between the two classes of institutions so far as origin is concerned. In some cases Ezra (the great scribe and the leader of the Great Assembly) is mentioned as the author, in others the entire Great Assembly mentioned; in all cases the Assembly with Ezra at its head must be thought of as

1925-479: The generation of Ezra and Nehemiah . These include: The last statement is notable for suggesting that the Great Assembly lasted only for a single generation—the generation of Ezra. It appears from all these passages in traditional literature that the idea of the Great Assembly was based on the narrative in Nehemiah 8–10, and that its members were the leaders of Israel who had returned from exile and reestablished

1980-484: The holiday. These divergent statements may be reconciled by reading in the one passage, "beside them" instead of "among them" in the Jerusalem Talmud; "30" instead of "80" prophets in R. Jeremiah's teaching. The number 85 is taken from Nehemiah 10:2–29 , but the origin of the entire number (120) is unknown. It was undoubtedly assumed that the company of those mentioned in Nehemiah 10 was increased to 120 by

2035-658: The introduction of the Feast of Purim ; and the institution of many prayers and rituals including the Amidah prayer. The members of the Great Assembly are designated in the Mishnah as those who occupied a place in the chain of tradition between the Prophets and the tannaim : The first part of this statement is paraphrased as follows in Avot of Rabbi Natan : In this paraphrase, the three post- exilic prophets are separated from

2090-573: The last prophets were still active during this time, they also were included. Rabbinic chronology also held that prophecy ceased with the conquest of Alexander the Great . In view of these facts, it was natural that the Great Assembly should be regarded as the connecting-link in the chain of tradition between the Prophets and the sages. It may easily be seen, therefore, why Simeon the Just should be termed

2145-411: The leaking of information from ministerial meetings. Ben-Gurion formed the eighth government a week later on 7 January 1958 with the same coalition partners. The number of ministers remained the same. The eighth government collapsed when Ben-Gurion resigned again on 5 July 1959 after Labour Unity and Mapam had voted against the government on the issue of selling arms to West Germany and refused to leave

2200-423: The makeup of the permanent committees following each election, as well as suggesting committee chairs, lays down the sitting arrangements of political parties in the Knesset, and the distribution of offices in the Knesset building to members and parties. Knesset members often join in formal or informal groups known as "lobbies" or "caucuses", to advocate for a particular topic. There are hundreds of such caucuses in

2255-498: The matter being discussed. Committees may request explanations and information from any relevant ministers in any matter within their competence, and the ministers or persons appointed by them must provide the explanation or information requested. There are four types of committees in the Knesset. Permanent committees amend proposed legislation dealing with their area of expertise, and may initiate legislation. However, such legislation may only deal with Basic Laws and laws dealing with

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2310-461: The memorable gathering held on the 24th of Tishri, 444 BC. Although the assembly itself convened only on a single day, its leaders were designated in tradition as regular members of the Great Assembly. This explains the fact that the references speak almost exclusively of "the men of the Great Assembly", the allusions to the "Great Assembly" itself being very rare, and sometimes based on error. As certain institutions assumed to have been established in

2365-513: The next person on their party's list to take their seat. If they leave the cabinet, they are able to return to the Knesset to take the place of their replacement. The 120 members of the Knesset (MKs) 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

2420-464: The other prophets, for it was the task of the former to transmit the Law to the members of the Great Assembly. It must even be assumed that these three prophets were themselves included in those members, for it is evident from the statements referring to the institution of the prayers and benedictions that the Great Assembly included prophets. However if the three post-exile prophets who were separated from

2475-642: The passage in question identified the Soferim (i.e., Ezra and his successors) with them. The following rulings were ascribed to the men of the Great Assembly: According to Sherira Gaon , the extensive traditions of the Oral Torah (first recorded in the Mishnah ) were known by the Great Assembly, but transmitted orally from generation to generation, until eventually being recorded in the names of later sages. Modern scholars have given

2530-407: The pre-exile prophets by many generations received from them through writings, then naturally this would assume that the later prophets of the Great Assembly who received from the previous prophets could have also done so through inheriting their writings, and this suggests that the transmission of the Law did not require their attendance at the Great Assembly. According to R. Johanan (3rd century),

2585-403: 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

2640-471: The prophets who took part in the sealing of the covenant, this view, which is confirmed by Nehemiah 7:7,14, being based on the hypothesis that other prophets besides Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi were then preaching in Israel. These passages indicate that this assembly was believed to be the one described in Nehemiah 9–10, and other statements regarding it prove that the Amoraim accepted this identification as

2695-461: The real authors. In traditional literature, however, a distinction was generally drawn between the institutions of Ezra and those of the men of the Great Assembly, so that they figured separately. But it is not surprising, after what has been said above, that in the Tanhuma the " Tikkunei Soferim " (called also "Tikkunei Ezra" ) should be ascribed to the men of the Great Assembly, since the author of

2750-718: The second) on 3 November 1955. His Mapai party formed a coalition with the National Religious Front (which later changed its name to the National Religious Party), Mapam, the Progressive Party , Ahdut HaAvoda, and the three Israeli Arab parties, the Democratic List for Israeli Arabs, Progress and Work, Agriculture and Development. The government had 16 ministers. It collapsed when Ben-Gurion resigned on 31 December 1957 over

2805-417: 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% 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

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2860-478: Was an assembly of possibly 120 scribes, sages, and prophets, which existed from the early Second Temple period (around 516 BCE) to the early Hellenistic period (which began in the region with Alexander's conquest in 332 BCE), roughly coinciding with the Persian hegemony over the nation of Israel . The assembly's members, known as Anshei Knesset HaGedolah ( אַנְשֵׁי כְּנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה ‎, "The Men of

2915-603: Was financed by James de Rothschild as a gift to the State of Israel in his will and was completed in 1966. It was built on land leased from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem . Over the years, significant additions to the structure were constructed, however, these were built at levels below and behind the main 1966 structure as not to detract from the original assembly building's appearance. Despite numerous motions of no confidence being tabled in

2970-472: 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). 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 in

3025-405: Was the only Knesset to date during which none of the parties split or merged. As with the first and second Knesset, the speaker was Yosef Sprinzak until his death on 28 January 1959. He was replaced by Ahdut HaAvoda's Nahum Nir . The third Knesset started with David Ben-Gurion forming the seventh government of Israel (the previous two Knessets had six governments; two in the first and four in

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