Israel Government

What is the capital of Israel?

Country Name	Israel
Full Country Name	State of Israel
Local - Long	Medinat Yisra'el
Local - Short	Yisra'el
Former Name	Mandatory Palestine
Etymology- history of name	named after the ancient Kingdom of Israel; according to Biblical tradition, the Jewish patriarch Jacob received the name "Israel" ("He who struggles with God") after he wrestled an entire night with an angel of the Lord; Jacob's 12 sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel, who formed the Kingdom of Israel
Government Type	parliamentary democracy
Capital Name	Jerusalem; note - the US recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017 without taking a position on the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty
Capital - geographic coordinate	31 46 N, 35 14 E
Capital Time Difference	UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Daylight Savings Time	+1hr, Friday before the last Sunday in March; ends the last Sunday in October
Independence	14 May 1948 (following League of Nations mandate under British administration)
National Holiday	Independence Day, 14 May (1948); note - Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, but the Jewish calendar is lunar and the holiday may occur in April or May
Constitution	history: no formal constitution; some functions of a constitution are filled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the Basic Laws, and the Law of Return (as amended) amendments: proposed by Government of Israel ministers or by the Knesset; passage requires a majority vote of Knesset members and subject to Supreme Court judicial review; 11 of the 13 Basic Laws have been amended at least once, latest in 2020 (Basic Law: the Knesset)

Israel Capital City Map

Source: Google Maps

Israel Government and Politics

Who is the president of Israel?

Executive Branch:	chief of state: President Isaac HERZOG (since 7 July 2021) head of government: Prime Minister Benyamin NETANYAHU (since 29 December 2022) cabinet: Cabinet selected by prime minister and approved by the Knesset elections/appointments: president indirectly elected by the Knesset for a single 7-year term; election last held on 2 June 2021 (next to be held in June 2028); following legislative elections, the president, in consultation with party leaders, tasks a Knesset member (usually the member of the largest party) with forming a new government election results: 2021: Isaac HERZOG elected president; Knesset vote in first round - Isaac HERZOG (independent) 87, Miriam PERETZ (independent) 26, invalid/blank 7 2014: Reuven RIVLIN elected president in second round; Knesset vote - Reuven RIVLIN (Likud) 63, Meir SHEETRIT (The Movement) 53, other/invalid 4
Citizenship Criteria:	citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Israel dual citizenship recognized: yes, but naturalized citizens are not allowed to maintain dual citizenship residency requirement for naturalization: 3 out of the 5 years preceding the application for naturalization note: Israeli law (Law of Return, 5 July 1950) provides for the granting of citizenship to any Jew - defined as a person being born to a Jewish mother or having converted to Judaism while renouncing any other religion - who immigrates to and expresses a desire to settle in Israel on the basis of the Right of aliyah; the 1970 amendment of this act extended the right to family members including the spouse of a Jew, any child or grandchild, and the spouses of children and grandchildren
Legal System:	mixed legal system of English common law, British Mandate regulations, and Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious laws
Suffrage:	18 years of age; universal; 17 years of age for municipal elections
Legislative Branch:	description: unicameral Knesset (120 seats; members directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by closed party-list proportional representation vote, with a 3.25% vote threshold to gain representation; members serve 4-year terms) elections: last held on 1 November 2022 (next to be held in November 2026) election results: percent by party - Likud 23.4%, Yesh Atid 17.8%, Religious Zionism (electoral alliance of Religious Zionist Party, Jewish Strength, and Noam) 10.8%, National Unity 9.1%, Shas 8.2%, UTJ 5.9%, Yisrael Beiteinu 4.5%, United Arab List 4.1%, Hadash-Ta'al 3.8%, Labor 3.7%, Meretz 3.2%, other 1.6%; seats by party - Likud 32, Yesh Atid 24, Religious Zionism 14, National Unity 12, Shas 11, UTJ 7, Yisrael Beiteinu 6, Hadash-Ta'al 5, United Arab List 5, Labor 4; composition - men 91, women 29, percentage of women 24.2%; note - following the 1 November 2022 election, the Religious Zionism Alliance split into its three constituent parties in the Knesset: Religious Zionism 7 seats, Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) 6, and Noam 1
Judicial Branch:	highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the president, deputy president, 13 justices, and 2 registrars) and normally sits in panels of 3 justices; in special cases, the panel is expanded with an uneven number of justices judge selection and term of office: judges selected by the 9-member Judicial Selection Committee, consisting of the Minister of Justice (chair), the president of the Supreme Court, two other Supreme Court justices, 1 other Cabinet minister, 2 Knesset members, and 2 representatives of the Israel Bar Association; judges can serve up to mandatory retirement at age 70 subordinate courts: district and magistrate courts; national and regional labor courts; family and juvenile courts; special and Rabbinical courts
Regions or States:	6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz); Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv
Political Parties and Leaders:	Balad [Sami Abu SHEHADEH] Blue and White [Benny GANTZ] Hadash [Ayman ODEH] Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) [Itamar Ben GVIR] Labor Party or HaAvoda [Merav MICHAELI] Likud [Binyamin NETANYAHU] Meretz [vacant] National Unity [alliance includes Blue and White and New Hope] New Hope [Gideon SA'AR] Noam [Avi MAOZ] Religious Zionism [Bezalel SMOTRICH] (election alliance of Religious Zionist Party, Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit), and Noam) Religious Zionist Party [Bezalel SMOTRICH] Shas [Aryeh DERI] Ta'al [Ahmad TIBI] United Arab List [Mansour ABBAS] United Torah Judaism or UTJ [Moshe GAFNI] (alliance includes Agudat Israel and Degel HaTorah) Yesh Atid [Yair LAPID] Yisrael Beiteinu [Avigdor LIEBERMAN]
International Law Organization Participation:	has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; withdrew acceptance of ICCt jurisdiction in 2002
International Organization Participation:	BIS, BSEC (observer), CE (observer), CERN, CICA, EBRD, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW (signatory), OSCE (partner), Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic Representation in the US:	chief of mission: Ambassador Michael HERZOG (since 1 December 2021) chancery: 3514 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 364-5500 FAX: [1] (202) 364-5607 email address and website: consular@washington.mfa.gov.il https://embassies.gov.il/washington/Pages/default.aspx consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco
Diplomatic Representation from US:	chief of mission: Ambassador Jacob J. LEW (since 5 November 2023) embassy: 14 David Flusser Street, Jerusalem, 9378322 mailing address: 6350 Jerusalem Place, Washington DC 20521-6350 telephone: [972] (2) 630-4000 FAX: [972] (2) 630-4070 email address and website: JerusalemACS@state.gov https://il.usembassy.gov/ branch office(s): Tel Aviv note: on 14 May 2018, the US Embassy relocated to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv; on 4 March 2019, Consulate General Jerusalem merged into US Embassy Jerusalem to form a single diplomatic mission

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