With a backdrop of continued violence, terrorism and a looming war in Iraq, Israelis will go to the polls on Tuesday, January 28, 2003 to elect the members of the 16th Knesset, the Israeli Parliament. Technically, these elections are being held nearly a year early. Following the resignation of the Labor Party from his Likud-led unity government, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon initiated the dissolution of the Knesset on November 5, 2002. Israeli law stipulates that elections must be held within 90 days of the President's formal acceptance of the Knesset's dissolution.

Election Procedure
In January, Israelis will cast only one ballot to elect a party in the Knesset. This comes following the 2001 repeal of the law for the direct election of the Prime Minister, which was implemented in the past three elections. Direct election legislation was officially instituted in 1992 in an effort to mitigate the extraordinary influence small parties wielded over larger parties during the formation of coalitions. Ironically however, direct elections had exactly the opposite effect. Having voted for a Prime Minister from a major party, voters were free to choose Knesset representation from sectarian and special interest parties with narrower agendas. Thus, the new election law served to increase the influence of the smaller parties.

Knesset Elections

Procedure
When Israelis go to the polls, they will cast one vote for a list and not for a specific candidate. Each party presents a list of ranked candidates for the Knesset determined through their own internal procedure. In some instances, lists are comprised of multiple political parties that have agreed to join forces in an attempt to attract a broader constituency and win more seats in the Knesset.

Parties currently represented in the Knesset are automatically eligible to run for re-election. Other parties can only become eligible through the submission of a petition of 1,500 eligible voters and the deposit of a bond that is refunded only if that party wins at least one seat. Parties that reject the Jewish and democratic nature of the State of Israel, incite racism, or are believed to function as a cover for illegal activities cannot be legally registered.

The Knesset's 120 seats are allocated according to the percentage of votes received by each party in the election. A minimum of 1.5 percent of the total vote is needed for a party to attain one Knesset seat and there are approximately 4.7 million eligible voters. When the election results are final, the leader of the party holding the most seats must notify the President within a maximum of 42 days from the date of the election that a coalition comprised of at least 61 Members of Knesset has been formed. Within the following week the new Government, including its cabinet ministers and policy platform, must be approved by the Knesset plenum at which time it officially commences its term. Should the Knesset not vote confidence in the new government, new elections must be held within 90 days.

Should Israel enter a state of war during the election period, the Government may declare a national state of emergency. Following such a declaration, the Knesset is legally permitted to postpone the election for up to 100 days from the date that such a vote is passed. This occurred most recently during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Parties
29 parties have registered with the Central Election Committee to run for the Knesset. This is a slight decrease from an unprecedented 32 in 1999. In an effort to consolidate power and increase their electoral success in the new one-vote system, several parties have joined forces to create voting blocs or combined lists. This is most prevalent among right wing and Arab parties. For example, Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) has joined the National Union list which is also comprised of Moledet and Tekumah, while the Arab-Jewish Communist Party, Hadash, has just agreed to have Ahmed Tibi's Movement for Arab Renewal join their list. Azmi Bishara's Balad Party is also negotiating its inclusion on that same list.

Aside from several new parties running for election such as the A Different Israel Party that is hoping to elevate the professionalism of government, the Green Leaf Party that is advocating for the legalization of marijuana, or the new Orthodox Sephardic Party Ahavat Yisrael, most parties are well established and represented in the current Knesset such as Likud, Labor, Meretz, Shinui, National Religious Party, Yisrael B'Aliyah, and the Ultra Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism.

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