2022 Israeli legislative election

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All 120 seats in the Knesset 61 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	70.63% (3.19pp)
Party Leader % Seats +/– Likud Benjamin Netanyahu 23.41 32 +2 Yesh Atid Yair Lapid 17.78 24 +7 RZP–Otzma Bezalel Smotrich 10.83 14 +8 National Unity Benny Gantz 9.08 12 −2 Shas Aryeh Deri 8.24 11 +2 UTJ Yitzhak Goldknopf 5.88 7 0 Yisrael Beiteinu Avigdor Lieberman 4.49 6 −1 Ra'am Mansour Abbas 4.07 5 +1 Hadash–Ta'al Ayman Odeh 3.75 5 0 Labor Merav Michaeli 3.69 4 −3 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Yair Lapid Yesh Atid Benjamin Netanyahu Likud

Legislative elections were held in Israel on 1 November 2022 to elect the 120 members of the 25th Knesset. The results saw the right-wing national camp of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu win a parliamentary majority, amid losses for left-wing and Arab parties, as well as gains by the far-right.^[1][2][3]

After the 2021 elections, the next elections had been scheduled for no later than 11 November 2025 according to the four-year term limit set by Basic Law: The Government. The thirty-sixth government, a national unity government formed between eight political parties following the 2021 elections, held the narrowest possible majority (61 seats) in the 120-member Knesset. In April 2022, MK Idit Silman left the governing coalition, leaving it without a majority.^[4]

On 20 June 2022, following several legislative defeats for the government in the Knesset, prime minister Naftali Bennett and alternate prime minister Yair Lapid announced the introduction of a bill to dissolve the 24th Knesset,^[5] which was approved on 30 June.^[6] Simultaneously, in accordance with the rotation government agreement that was part of the 2021 coalition deal, Lapid became prime minister and led a caretaker government until a new government took office.^[7][6]

Within the context of the 2018–2022 Israeli political crisis, this was the fifth Knesset election in nearly four years, as no party had been able to form a stable coalition since 2019.^[8][9] A total of 40 parties registered to run for these elections, although only twelve to fourteen parties were projected to cross the 3.25% electoral threshold to win seats under the closed list, proportional representation electoral system. Ten parties succeeded in crossing the threshold.^[2][10] On 21 December, Netanyahu announced that he had succeeded in forming a coalition government consisting of 64 MKs.^[11] The thirty-seventh government was sworn in on 29 December.^[12]

Background

The extended period of political deadlock that led up to the election was the result of four inconclusive elections (April 2019, September 2019, 2020, and 2021). In April and September 2019, neither incumbent Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, nor leader of the main opposition party Blue and White, Benny Gantz, was able to muster a 61-seat governing majority, leading to fresh elections.^[13][14] In March 2020, these resulted in the formation of a unity government, the thirty-fifth government of Israel, between Netanyahu and Gantz,^[15] which collapsed in December following a budgetary dispute, leading to another election in March 2021.^[16][17] The 2021 election led to the formation of another unity government, this one between eight political parties, with the leader of the Yamina party, Naftali Bennett, and the leader of Yesh Atid, Yair Lapid, becoming prime minister and Alternate Prime Minister of Israel, respectively.^[18][19] Bennett and Lapid agreed to rotate their positions after two years, with Lapid becoming the prime minister and Bennett becoming the alternate prime minister.^[20]

Upon the government's formation in June 2021, it held 61 seats in the Knesset; all these members of the Knesset (MK) came from coalition parties excluding Yamina's Amichai Chikli.^[21][22][23] On 6 April 2022, Yamina MK Idit Silman, resigned from the coalition, causing the governing coalition to lose its majority in the Knesset.^[24] Silman cited a decision from Minister of Health, Nitzan Horowitz, to enforce a court ruling allowing hospital visitors to enter with chametz (leavened bread) during Passover, which is forbidden under Jewish law,^[25] and other religion-related actions of the coalition.^[26] On 19 May, Meretz MK Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi resigned from the coalition, alleging that the government had adopted a hardline stance on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and related issues, and lowering its number of seats in the Knesset to a minority of 59.^[27] She rejoined the coalition three days later.^[28] On 7 June, she joined the opposition in voting down a bill that would have renewed the application of Israeli law in the West Bank settlements, which was set to expire in July.^[29] The bill was supported by the government.^[30] On 13 June, Yamina MK Nir Orbach left the coalition, arguing that left-wing members of the coalition were holding it hostage.^[31]

On 20 June, Bennett and Lapid announced the introduction of a bill to dissolve the Knesset in a joint statement, stating that Lapid would become the interim prime minister following the dissolution.^[32] The dissolution of the Knesset automatically delayed the expiration date of the ordinances until 90 days after the formation of the next government.^[33][34] The bill to dissolve the Knesset passed its first reading on 28 June.^[35] The bill passed its third reading on 29 June and the date for elections was set for 1 November 2022.^[36] Bennett opted to retire from politics and not seek reelection; he resigned as the leader of Yamina on 29 June, and was succeeded by Ayelet Shaked.^[37]

On 30 June, in accordance with the coalition agreement, Lapid succeeded Bennett as the caretaker prime minister.^[38]

Campaign

On 10 July, Blue and White and New Hope formed a joint list, known as Blue and White – The New Hope, excluding Derekh Eretz that ran as part of New Hope in 2021.^[39][40] On 14 August, the list was joined by former Israel Defense Forces's Chief of the General Staff, Gadi Eizenkot, as well as Yamina MKs Matan Kahana and Shirly Pinto, and was subsequently renamed the National Unity Party.^[41][42]

On 27 July, Yamina formed a joint list with Derekh Eretz, known as Zionist Spirit.^[43] The alliance dissolved on 11 September.^[44] On 13 September, Yamina announced a joint run with The Jewish Home.^[45] that day, Derekh Eretz withdrew from the race.^[46]

On 14 September, the Religious Zionist Party, Noam and Otzma Yehudit submitted a single list.^[47]

On 15 September, several minutes before the party list submission deadline, the Joint List dissolved, with Balad and Hadash–Ta'al submitting two separate lists.^[48]

In August, Israel launched Operation Breaking Dawn, resulting in clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian groups.^[49] The operation was supported by members of the opposition, including Netanyahu,^[50] Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich, and Shas leader Aryeh Deri.^[51]

Timeline

• 1 September — Deadline for submitting an application for registration of a new party to the Registrar of Parties for the purpose of running in this election^[52]
• 11 September — Publication of the final list of parties running^[52]
• 14–15 September — Date of submission of the lists of candidates to the Election Committee^[52]
• 22 September — Deadline for filing a petition requesting disqualification of a list or candidate from running^[52]
• 18 October — Beginning of television and radio advertising window^[52]
• 1 November — Election date^[52]
• 9 November — Deadline for the publication of the final election results^[52]
• 15 November – 25th Knesset sworn in^[53]

Electoral system

The 120 seats in the Knesset are elected by closed list, proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency. The electoral threshold for the election is 3.25%.^[54] In the Israeli-occupied territories, only the settlers have the right to vote.^[55][56]

Surplus-vote agreements

Two parties could sign a surplus vote agreement that allowed them to compete for leftover seats as if they were running together on the same list, a system known as apparentment. The Bader–Ofer method slightly favours larger lists, meaning that alliances are more likely to receive leftover seats than parties would be individually. If the alliance were to receive leftover seats, the Bader–Ofer calculation would be applied privately to determine how the seats are divided among the two allied lists.^[57]

The following parties signed surplus vote-sharing agreements for the 2022 election:

• Labor and Meretz^[58]
• Likud and Religious Zionist Party^[59]
• National Unity Party and Yesh Atid^[60]
• Shas and United Torah Judaism^[59]
• Pirate Party of Israel and Yesh Kivun^[61]

Political parties

Factions before the election

The table below lists the parliamentary factions represented in the 24th Knesset.