A primer on the Israeli government, how coalitions are formed and how a prime minister actually gets chosen
The Israeli system of government is a parliamentary democracy where citizens vote for various parties who then form coalitions in order to form a government. The Israeli parliament is called the Knesset and has 120 seats.
The current number of parties in the Knesset is 17, but that changes each election as new parties and alliances form, and old ones break up.
After the election, the head of each party meets with the president to present their recommendations for who should be prime minister. The president will typically choose the party leader with the best shot at forming a government - usually the head of one of the major parties - and assign him or her with the task of building a coalition.
This person will need an alliance of ...
