The current Knesset has representatives of 17 parties. Click on the seating chart to the right to see all the members and where they sit. Click on a member to learn more about their party. People in America sometimes complain they have little choice in their elections, that the two major parties are very similar. This is not the case in Israel where it is possible to find parties for nearly every opinion.
Political parties represent various ethnic groups, political ideologies and causes.
There are also religious parties in the Knesset, since there is no formal separation between religion and state in Israel. The former dominated Israeli politics until 1977, when the Likud's Menachem Begin was elected Prime Minister . Since then, representatives of both parties have served in the office. Ehud Barak is the current Prime Minister. For most of its history, the person elected Israel s Prime Minister was the leader of the party that received the most votes in an election.