# Cabinet of Israel

The Cabinet of Israel (Hebrew: ממשלת ישראל, romanized: Memshelet Yisra'el; Arabic: مجلس وزراء إسرائيل, romanized: Majlis Wuzaraʾ Israʾil) is the cabinet which exercises executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the prime minister. The composition of the government must be approved by a vote of confidence in the Knesset (the Israeli parliament). Under Israeli law, the prime minister may dismiss members of the government but must do so in writing, and new appointees must be approved by the Knesset. Most ministers lead ministries, though some are ministers without portfolio. Most ministers are members of the Knesset, though only the Prime Minister and the "designated acting prime minister" are required to be Knesset members. Some ministers are also called deputy and vice-prime ministers. Unlike the designated acting prime minister, these roles have no statutory meanings. The government operates in accordance with the Basic Law. It meets on Sundays weekly in Jerusalem. There may be additional meetings if circumstances require it.
Unlike most cabinets in parliamentary regimes, the Israeli cabinet–officially described in the Basic Laws as the "Government"–is both the de jure and de facto executive authority in Israel. In most parliamentary regimes, the head of state is nominal chief executive, while bound by convention to act on the advice of the cabinet. In Israel, the Basic Laws explicitly vest executive power in the cabinet/Government, not the President.

## Use of terms

The body discussed in this article is referred to in Israeli official documents as the Government of Israel. This is in accordance with the normal translation of its Hebrew name, (Hebrew: ממשלה, Memshala). In Israel, the term cabinet (Hebrew: קבינט) is generally used for the State-Security Cabinet (Hebrew: הקבינט המדיני-ביטחוני HaKabinet haMedini-Bitachoni), a smaller forum of cabinet members that decides on defense and foreign policy issues and may consist of up to half of the (full) cabinet members. Another term in use is the Kitchen Cabinet (Hebrew: המטבחון, HaMitbahon, lit. "The kitchenette"), a collection of senior officials, or unofficial advisers to the Security Cabinet of Israel.

## Provisional and first governments of Israel

The first government was the provisional government of Israel (HaMemshala HaZmanit) which governed from shortly before independence until the formation of the first formal government in March 1949 following the first Knesset elections in January that year. It was formed as the People's Administration (Minhelet HaAm) on 12 April 1948, in preparation for independence just over a month later. All its thirteen members were taken from Moetzet HaAm, the temporary legislative body set up at the same time.

## Current government

The thirty-seventh government of Israel (Hebrew: ממשלת ישראל השלושים ושבע) is the current government of Israel, which was sworn in on 29 December 2022.

## List of cabinets

| Government | Dates in office | Prime Minister |
| Provisional | 14 May 1948 – 10 March 1949 | David Ben-Gurion |
| 1st | 10 March 1949 – 30 October 1950 | David Ben-Gurion |
| 2nd | 1 November 1950 – 8 October 1951 | David Ben-Gurion |
| 3rd | 8 October 1951 – 24 December 1952 | David Ben-Gurion |
| 4th | 24 December 1952 – 26 January 1954 | David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Sharett |
| 5th | 26 January 1954 – 29 June 1955 | Moshe Sharett |
| 6th | 29 June 1955 – 3 November 1955 | Moshe Sharett |
| 7th | 3 November 1955 – 7 January 1958 | David Ben-Gurion |
| 8th | 7 January 1958 – 17 December 1959 | David Ben-Gurion |
| 9th | 17 December 1959 – 2 November 1961 | David Ben-Gurion |
| 10th | 2 November 1961 – 26 June 1963 | David Ben-Gurion |
| 11th | 26 June 1963 – 22 December 1964 | Levi Eshkol |
| 12th | 22 December 1964 – 12 January 1966 | Levi Eshkol |
| 13th | 12 January 1966 – 17 March 1969 | Levi Eshkol, Yigal Allon |
| 14th | 17 March 1969 – 15 December 1969 | Golda Meir |
| 15th | 15 December 1969 – 10 March 1974 | Golda Meir |
| 16th | 10 March 1974 – 3 June 1974 | Golda Meir |
| 17th | 3 June 1974 – 20 June 1977 | Yitzhak Rabin |
| 18th | 20 June 1977 – 5 August 1981 | Menachem Begin |
| 19th | 5 August 1981 – 28 August 1983 | Menachem Begin |
| 20th | 10 October 1983 – 13 September 1984 | Yitzhak Shamir |
| 21st | 13 September 1984 – 20 October 1986 | Shimon Peres |
| 22nd | 20 October 1986 – 22 December 1988 | Yitzhak Shamir |
| 23rd | 22 December 1988 – 11 June 1990 | Yitzhak Shamir |
| 24th | 11 June 1990 – 13 July 1992 | Yitzhak Shamir |
| 25th | 13 July 1992 – 22 November 1995 | Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres |
| 26th | 22 November 1995 – 18 June 1996 | Shimon Peres |
| 27th | 18 June 1996 – 6 July 1999 | Benjamin Netanyahu |
| 28th | 6 July 1999 – 7 March 2001 | Ehud Barak |
| 29th | 7 March 2001 – 28 February 2003 | Ariel Sharon |
| 30th | 28 February 2003 – 4 May 2006 | Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert |
| 31st | 4 May 2006 – 31 March 2009 | Ehud Olmert |
| 32nd | 31 March 2009 – 18 March 2013 | Benjamin Netanyahu |
| 33rd | 18 March 2013 – 14 May 2015 | Benjamin Netanyahu |
| 34th | 14 May 2015 – 17 May 2020 | Benjamin Netanyahu |
| 35th | 17 May 2020 – 13 June 2021 | Benjamin Netanyahu |
| 36th | 13 June 2021 – 29 December 2022 | Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid |
| 37th | 29 December 2022 – | Benjamin Netanyahu |