Members of the Twentieth Knesset

The election for the 20th Knesset was held on March 17, 2015, only two years after the previous Knesset election. It was only the second such instance in Israeli history and the first in 53 years; the law normally stipulates a Knesset term of four to four-and-a-half years.[8] The immediate trigger was the 19th Knesset's vote on December 8, 2014, to dissolve itself following a cabinet rift over several issues, including the defense budget, a tax break for first-time homebuyers, settlement construction, and a disputed Jewish nation-state bill.[5]

Israel's Knesset comprises 120 seats filled through a direct, secret, proportional party-list system in which the entire country serves as a single electoral district.[4] The electoral threshold had been raised from 2 percent to 3.25 percent under the Governance Bill. Some civil-society organizations criticized the change for its potential effect on parties representing the Arab minority.[9] The higher threshold produced the lowest number of represented parties—ten—since 1992; its most visible effect was the consolidation of four Arab-Israeli parties into a single Joint List.[5]

The final results recorded 5,881,696 eligible voters, 4,254,738 voters, and 4,210,884 valid votes; turnout was 72.3 percent.[3] Likud, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, won 30 seats and finished six ahead of the center-left Zionist Union—a joint list of Labor and Ha'tnua—which won 24.[4] Likud had trailed by four seats in final pre-election polls. Commentators cited late-campaign appeals by Netanyahu urging right-leaning voters to support Likud rather than smaller parties as a contributing factor, though this remains an interpretation rather than a settled causal account.[4]

The complete seat distribution across all ten parties was as follows: Likud 30; Zionist Union 24; Joint List 13; Yesh Atid 11; Kulanu 10; Jewish Home (Ha'bayit Ha'Yehudi) 8; Shas 7; Yisrael Beiteinu 6; United Torah Judaism 6; and Meretz 5.[3] Yachad and all other parties failed to pass the threshold and won no seats.[3]

The 20th Knesset was sworn in on March 31, 2015. The 120 elected members each pledged "I hereby undertake" as the Knesset secretary read their names alphabetically by surname.[1] President Reuven Rivlin urged members to bring citizens' problems into the chamber and told them, "Do not leave the pains of this people and its demands outside the walls of the Knesset."[1]

Maariv reported that 38 incoming lawmakers were new to Knesset service.[10] Among notable details, siblings Jackie (Z'aki) Levy of Likud and Orly Levy-Abekasis of Yisrael Beiteinu entered together, both children of former MK David Levy; Amir Peretz of the Zionist Union, as the longest-serving incoming member, presided over the first sitting; and Oren Hazan secured the last Likud seat after soldiers' votes were counted.[10]

The incoming roster, as reported by The Times of Israel, was as follows:[11]

Likud (30): Benjamin Netanyahu, Gilad Erdan, Yuli Edelstein, Yisrael Katz, Miri Regev, Silvan Shalom, Moshe Ya'alon, Ze'ev Elkin, Danny Danon, Yariv Levin, Benny Begin, Tzachi Hanegbi, Yuval Steinitz, Gila Gamliel, Ofir Akunis, David Bitan, Haim Katz, Jackie Levy, Yoav Kisch, Tzipi Hotovely, Dudu Amsalem, Miki Zohar, Anat Berko, Ayoub Kara, Nava Boker, Avi Dichter, Avraham Nagosa, Nurit Koren, Yaron Mazuz, and Oren Hazan.

Zionist Union (24): Isaac Herzog, Tzipi Livni, Shelly Yachimovich, Stav Shaffir, Itzik Shmuli, Omer Bar-Lev, Hilik Bar, Amir Peretz, Merav Michaeli, Eitan Cabel, Manuel Trajtenberg, Erel Margalit, Mickey Rosenthal, Revital Swid, Danny Atar, Yoel Hasson, Zuhair Bahloul, Eitan Broshi, Michal Biran, Nachman Shai, Ksenia Svetlova, Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin, Yossi Yona, and Eyal Ben-Reuven.

Joint (Arab) List (13): Ayman Odeh, Masud Ganaim, Jamal Zahalka, Ahmad Tibi, Aida Touma-Sliman, Abd al-Hakim Hajj Yahiya, Hanin Zoabi, Dov Khenin, Taleb Abu Arar, Yosef Jabareen, Basel Ghattas, Osama Sa'adi, and Abdullah Abu Ma'aruf.

Yesh Atid (11): Yair Lapid, Shai Piron, Yael German, Meir Cohen, Ya'akov Peri, Ofer Shelah, Haim Jelin, Karin Elharar, Yoel Razvozov, Aliza Lavie, and Mickey Levy.

Kulanu (10): Moshe Kahlon, Yoav Galant, Eli Elalouf, Michael Oren, Rachel Azaria, Tali Ploskov, Yifat Shasha-Biton, Eli Cohen, Roy Folkman, and Merav Ben Ari.

Jewish Home (8): Naftali Bennett, Uri Ariel, Ayelet Shaked, Eli Ben-Dahan, Nissan Slomiansky, Yinon Magal, Moti Yogev, and Bezalel Smotrich.

Shas (7): Aryeh Deri, Yitzhak Cohen, Meshulam Nahari, Yakov Margi, David Azoulay, Yoav Ben-Tzur, and Yitzhak Vaknin.

Yisrael Beiteinu (6): Avigdor Lieberman, Orly Levy-Abekasis, Sofa Landver, Ilan Shohat, Sharon Gal, and Hamad Amar.

United Torah Judaism (6): Yaakov Litzman, Moshe Gafni, Meir Porush, Uri Maklev, Menachem Eliezer Moses, and Israel Eichler.

Meretz (5): Zehava Gal-On, Ilan Gilon, Issawi Freij, Michal Rozin, and Tamar Zandberg.

This list reflects the incoming membership at the start of the term. Michael Oren of Kulanu was identified as the only U.S.-born member elected.[5] The Joint List—formed from four Arab-Israeli parties, Hadash, Ra'am, Ta'al, and Balad—became the Knesset's third-largest faction.[4]

Netanyahu announced the formation of a government on May 6, 2015, built from Likud, Jewish Home, United Torah Judaism, Shas, and Kulanu and holding a narrow 61–59 majority.[4] The Knesset approved the government list 61–59 on May 14, 2015.[5] Yisrael Beiteinu had initially withdrawn from coalition talks but, according to the cited election account, signed a coalition agreement on May 24, 2015; Avigdor Lieberman was subsequently named Defense Minister, replacing Moshe Ya'alon, and Environmental Protection Minister Avi Gabai resigned in protest at Lieberman's inclusion.[5]

The Joint List, despite holding 13 seats, announced that it would not join any coalition, effectively removing those seats from center-left bloc calculations.[8] Without the Joint List, the combined left and center blocs held 50 seats—insufficient to form a government—leaving Netanyahu's right-leaning coalition as the only viable majority.[8]

Contemporary sources counted Arab representation differently: Jewish Virtual Library reported that 13 Israeli Arabs were elected, while the U.S. State Department reported 15 Arab members following the parliamentary elections.[5][9] Reports on women also varied by publication timing. Maariv reported 28 incoming women before the final soldiers' votes, while ynet reported a record 29 after those votes were counted.[10][6] The latter count comprised 6 women from Likud, 8 from Zionist Union, 4 from Kulanu, 3 each from Meretz and Yesh Atid, 2 each from the Joint List and Yisrael Beiteinu, and 1 from Jewish Home; Shas and United Torah Judaism had no women on their lists.[6] The number of Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox members fell from 39 to 25, likely due in part to the reduced size of Habayit Hayehudi and Shas.[5] More than one-third of the incoming members had never previously served in the Knesset.[5]

Over the course of the term, the composition shifted considerably. By July 2018, 27 members had departed—nearly a quarter of the body—with a 28th departure expected shortly afterward.[12] Departures fell into several categories: members who took positions outside the Knesset, those leaving through rotation agreements or the Norwegian Law, departures connected with scandals or allegations, and one due to ill health.[12] Among documented replacements, Yael Cohen Paran entered the Knesset in November 2015 on behalf of the Zionist Camp, taking the seat vacated by Danny Atar after he was elected chairman of the Jewish National Fund.[13]

As of November 20, 2018, the U.S. State Department reported 35 female members and 18 members from ethnic or religious minorities, including 12 Muslims, three Druze, two Ethiopian-Israelis, and one Christian.[2] Arab member Aida Touma Suliman chaired the Knesset's permanent Committee on the Status of Women.[2] The Washington Institute reported that women eventually occupied 36 of the 120 seats, or 30 percent of acting members, temporarily placing Israel above the 2017 OECD average of 28.8 percent.[14] A later ynet retrospective instead gave the maximum simultaneous count as 35 while reporting that 37 women served at some point during the full term.[15]

The 20th Knesset voted to dissolve itself on December 26, 2018, ahead of the scheduled end of its term.[2] The formal explanation relayed by the Library of Congress was that the governing coalition could not obtain a majority for legislation concerning a proposed arrangement for ultra-Orthodox Jewish military service.[7] Following the dissolution vote, the Knesset handled remaining uncontroversial legislation before closing its plenary session and entering the election recess.[16] The next national election was set for April 9, 2019, bringing the 21st Knesset into being.[2]

The incoming-member roster above represents the 120 lawmakers who entered the 20th Knesset at the beginning of its term and does not account for every replacement who subsequently served. The Knesset's official historical member-list page could not be retrieved during research for this article.[17] Initial figures for women varied between 28 before the final soldiers' votes and 29 afterward.[10][6] Later sources also differ on whether the maximum number serving simultaneously was 35 or 36, although they report that 37 women served at some point over the full term.[14][15]