Cabinet of Israel


The Government of Israel exercises executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the prime minister. The composition of the government must be approved by a vote of confidence in the Knesset. Under Israeli law, the prime minister may dismiss members of the government, but must do so in writing, and new appointees must be approved by the Knesset. Most ministers lead ministries, though some are ministers without portfolio. Most ministers are members of the Knesset, though only the Prime Minister and the "designated acting prime minister" are required to be Knesset members. Some ministers are also called deputy and vice prime ministers. Unlike the designated acting prime minister, these roles have no statutory meanings. The government operates in accordance with the Basic Law. It meets on Sundays weekly in Jerusalem. There may be additional meetings if circumstances require it.

Use of terms

The body discussed in this article is referred to in Israeli official documents as the Government of Israel. This is in accordance to the normal translation of its Hebrew name,. In Israel, the term cabinet is generally used for the State-Security Cabinet, a smaller forum of cabinet members that decides on defense and foreign policy issues and may consist of up to half of the cabinet members. Another term in use is the Kitchen Cabinet, a collection of senior officials, or unofficial advisers to the Security Cabinet of Israel.

Provisional and first governments of Israel

The first government was the provisional government of Israel which governed from shortly before independence until the formation of the first formal government in March 1949 following the first Knesset elections in January that year. It was formed as the People's Administration on 12 April 1948, in preparation for independence just over a month later. All its thirteen members were taken from Moetzet HaAm, the temporary legislative body set up at the same time.

Current government

The thirty-fifth government of Israel is the current government of Israel, which was sworn in on 17 May 2020. It was expected to be established following the April 2019 election, but after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unable to form a government, the Knesset dissolved itself, setting up a snap election that took place on 17 September 2019. Again no one was able to form a government, and another election took place on 2 March 2020. On 20 April 2020, an agreement was reached between Netanyahu and MK Benny Gantz on the formation of a national unity government deal.