The Knesset: Israel's Parliament

Lesson 121 · הַכְּנֶסֶת

120 seats, single national constituency, pure proportional representation, 3.25% threshold. The Knesset is small, intense, and structurally unstable, no party has ever won a majority. Coalition arithmetic is the entire game. Knowing the rules lets you read any Israeli political headline in 60 seconds.

Cultural note, The number 120 is from the Sanhedrin (Talmudic supreme court) and the men of the Great Assembly. The Knesset building sits on Givat Ram in Jerusalem, with the Marc Chagall stained-glass windows of the 12 tribes facing the chamber. Tours are free in Hebrew, English, and Russian.

Structure

The Math (mandatory)

Knesset Roles

Legislative Process

Coalition Vocabulary

Israel's Declaration of Independence: Opening (May 14, 1948)

Read by Ben-Gurion at Tel Aviv Museum, 4 PM, eight hours before the British Mandate ended. Israel has no formal constitution, this declaration plus the Basic Laws function as one. Recited every year on Yom HaAtzma'ut.

Knesset Daily News Vocabulary

Real headline patterns from Israeli news. Once you know these, every political article reads in 30 seconds.