Politics of Israel
This leftist stance involves a willingness to compromise on territories occupied since the 1967 war and a commitment to secular, democratic values.
Additionally, the Israeli Left does not actively support ultra-Orthodox Jews, who are among the poorest in the country, as its identity focuses narrowly on territorial issues and secularism.
Until the 1977 Knesset election, Israel was ruled by successive coalition governments led by Mapai or the Mapai-dominated Alignment.
Netanyahu subsequently formed a predominantly right-wing coalition government publicly committed to pursuing the Oslo Accords, but with an emphasis on security first and reciprocity.
The Gesher party withdrew from the coalition in January 1998 upon the resignation of its leader, David Levy, from the position of Foreign Minister.
On 17 February 2001, elections resulted in a new "national unity" coalition government, led by Ariel Sharon of the Likud, and including the Labor Party.
Faced with internal opposition due to mounting corruption charges, Olmert announced that he would not seek reelection in the next elections held in February 2009.
Tzipi Livni won the September 2008 Kadima leadership elections, but failed to form a new coalition government.
In 2015, Netanyahu was re-elected for a third term, forming a coalition with the Jewish Home, Kulanu, Shas and United Torah Judaism.
In 2020, Netanyahu was able to form a government with Blue and White, Labor, Gesher, Shas, United Torah Judaism, Derekh Eretz and the Jewish Home.
On 13 June 2021, Knesset voted and approved the appointment of the new catch-all coalition government, and on the same day Bennett was sworn-in as the new prime minister of Israel.
After the 2022 Israeli legislative election, Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud formed a government with Shas, United Torah Judaism, the Religious Zionist Party, Otzma Yehudit and Noam.
[6] The particular version of proportional representation used, in which the whole country is a single constituency, encourages the formation of a large number of political parties, many with very specialized platforms, and often advocating the tenets of particular interest groups.
[9][needs update] Compared to other countries, the number of parties contesting Knesset elections is relatively high considering the population size.
This system also allows fringe parties which hold views outside of the mainstream political and public consensus to have representation in the Knesset.
