CONCEPT – ISRAEL 2019 ELECTIONS

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 CONCEPT – ISRAEL 2019 ELECTIONS

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• Nature of Israeli politics : Officially, Israeli elections take place every four years. In reality, because of the country’s parliamentary system and turbulent politics — in which one party never has enough seats to rule by itself — more often than not some form of governing coalition crisis leads to an early dissolution of the parliament and an early election.  

1. Over his last term, Prime Minister Netanyahu insisted he wanted his government to serve its full term, meaning voters would go to the polls in November 2019. Instead, he chose to dissolve the Knesset nearly a year early, on December 24, and called a snap election for April 9. The state prosecutor determined that Netanyahu should face criminal charges in three pending corruption cases against him. 
2. On February 28, Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit announced his intention to indict Netanyahu in all three cases, pending a hearing. 
3. Netanyahu seemingly pushed the election earlier, betting on the fact that if he must face criminal charges, he will be doing so as a popular, recently re-elected leader.
4. The record number of parties participating this year — over 40 — reflects a sense that the beginning of the end of Netanyahu’s long domination of Israeli politics is near, whether or not he wins this election or rides out the looming legal battle before him. And so the war of succession is on. Most of the new parties forming to Netanyahu’s left and right are headed by individuals who see themselves as Israel’s next prime minister. 

• How is the vote decided : In the Israeli system, every citizen has one vote — and the head of that party is the party’s candidate for prime minister. The voting system is low-tech: The voter selects a pre-printed slip of paper with the name of the party on it and places it in a ballot box. 

1. The distribution of Knesset seats in each party passing the threshold of all votes is determined by proportional representation: The division of the number of valid votes by 120 (the number of seats in Knesset), in order to determine how many votes entitle a party to a single seat. 
2. The electoral threshold is 3.25 percent, meaning that a party needs to win at least 3.25 percent of all votes — representing some four Knesset seats — in order to secure parliamentary representation. If they fall below that number, they do not enter the Knesset and their votes are eliminated from the percentage count. Their “lost” votes are then divided between successful parties via the Bader-Ofer method. 

• What happens next : The first exit polls released on Election Day will be published at 10 P.M. Israel time. However, considering the large number of small parties and how many are in danger of falling below the electoral threshold, a significant amount of time will pass before the final results are known. 

1. Once all the ballots have been counted and the results certified, Israelis will know the composition of the next Knesset — but they won’t know for sure who will be the prime minister and which party will rule the government. 
2. First, all of the elected parties recommend a candidate for prime minister and submit that recommendation to the president, Reuven Rivlin. They are permitted to recommend the head of any of the elected parties, including their own. 

• Based on these recommendations, the president then makes the key decision as to which party gets the first shot at forming a governing coalition. 
• This party does not have to be the one that received the most seats. While that is obviously important, a party’s ability to form a government depends on its ability to form a large enough political bloc that gives it a majority in the Knesset. 

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