One email a week. Elections worth watching, sharpest pages of the week, the thing most people misread about a country you'd recognise. No hot takes, no churn.
One email a week. Unsubscribe anytime — I don't take it personally.
The Knesset has 120 seats. A government needs the support of 61 to survive. No party won a majority on November 1, 2022. Build your government below.
How Israel's coalition system works
Majority threshold
61 of 120 seats needed. Israel uses pure nationwide proportional representation with a 3.25% threshold. Coalition formation is initiated by the President, who designates a formateur after consulting all party leaders.
Formation rules
After an election the President designates a Knesset member to form a government (typically the leader with the best coalition arithmetic). That person has 28 days, extendable by 14 days, to present a coalition to the Knesset for a confidence vote. If they fail, the President may designate another formateur, or the Knesset can nominate one directly. Failure to form a government triggers new elections.
What makes this system distinctive
Israel's proportional system and ethno-religious diversity produce deep multi-axis cleavages: secular vs religious, left vs right, Jewish vs Arab, Ashkenazi vs Mizrahi. Arab parties (Ra'am, Hadash-Ta'al) can theoretically prop up a left-wing government but face intense political pressure against it. Ultra-Orthodox parties (Shas, UTJ) typically extract budget concessions for yeshiva funding and military exemptions as the price of coalition entry. The 2022 Netanyahu government is the most right-wing in Israeli history.
Quick Scenarios
Select Parties
All 120 Seats — November 1, 2022
61 of 120 seats needed. Israel uses pure nationwide proportional representation with a 3.25% threshold. Coalition formation is initiated by the President, who designates a formateur after consulting all party leaders.
Israel in context: No party has ever won a Knesset majority. Israel held four elections in three years (2019–21) before Netanyahu's fifth government — its most right-wing in history — finally held.
