Prime Minister of the UISR

The **prime minister of Israel** is the head of government and chief executive of Israel.

Israel is a republic with a president as head of state. However, the president's powers are largely ceremonial (sort of); the prime minister holds the executive power (mostly). The official residence of the prime minister, *Beit Aghion,* is in Jerusalem.

PM
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Prime Minister

## Extra Info

### Term Length

3 Months

Following an election, the president nominates a member of the Knesset to become prime minister after asking party leaders whom they support for the position. The nominee has 7-10 days to put together a viable coalition. They then present a government platform and must receive a vote of confidence from the Knesset to become prime minister. In practice, the prime minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the governing coalition. Between 1996 and 2001, the prime minister was directly elected, separately from the Knesset.

Unlike most prime ministers in parliamentary republics, the prime minister is both *de jure* and *de facto* chief executive (mostly). This is because the Basic Laws of Israel explicitly vest executive power in the government, of which the prime minister is the leader.

## **Powers and Duties**

The Prime Minister conducts government meetings and government work in general. They replace ministers who have resigned or are unable to perform their duties, they determine the matters to be dealt with by the government, and they bear the primary responsibility for the results of government policy.

However, the law stipulates that the entire government (unlike a presidential regime) is the governing body of the state, and therefore government decisions are made in votes that require the support of a majority of ministers, and the voice of the prime minister is equal to that of any other minister. The Prime Minister cannot force their opinion on the government directly, but they can:

* Fire ministers (even without the consent of the Knesset) in a way that will buy them maximum support. The High Court ruling states that there is no impediment to a prime minister dismissing ministers who oppose them before a vote in the government, in order to create a majority in favor of the decision. The fired ministers and their factions can join the opposition in the Knesset and support no-confidence motions.
* Dissolve the Knesset and hold new elections, in a situation where there is a majority in the Knesset that does not allow the government to function, provided that it has received the approval of the President of the State to do so.
* In an emergency, when there is an urgent and vital need to install emergency regulations, and the government cannot be convened for that purpose, the Prime Minister has the authority to install them themselves.

In Addition:

* The Prime Minister compiles the list of government ministers and submits it to the Knesset for approval.
* The Prime Minister is the sole determinant of the agenda of government meetings and is also the director of the meetings, which are conducted in accordance with government regulations.
* The Prime Minister is directly responsible for the Shin Bet (Shabak), the Mossad, the Atomic Energy Commission, the National Security Headquarters, and more. The prime minister is not officially in charge of the IDF, but passes on their instructions through their military secretary.

## **Order of succession**

If the prime minister dies in office, the cabinet chooses an interim prime minister to run the government until a new government is placed in power. Yigal Allon served as interim prime minister following Levi Eshkol's death, as did Shimon Peres following the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.

According to Israeli law, if a prime minister is temporarily incapacitated rather than dies, power is transferred to the acting prime minister, until the prime minister recovers, for up to 100 days. If the prime minister is declared permanently incapacitated, or that period expires, the president of Israel oversees the process of assembling a new governing coalition, and in the meantime the acting prime minister or other incumbent minister is appointed by the cabinet to serve as interim prime minister.

### **Deputies of the Prime Minister**

#### Acting Prime Minister

The designated Acting Prime Minister takes the role of Prime Minister as Acting Prime Minister, for up to 14 consecutive days, if the incumbent is *temporarily incapacitated*. Whilst in other countries the term "Acting Prime Minister" only refers to an individual actually performing the role, in Israel the term is also in use when a designated minister is allocated, even if they never actually perform the role. The incumbent minister must be also a Knesset member to be eligible for this role.

#### Interim Prime Minister

The Interim Prime Minister is appointed by the government if the incumbent is dead or permanently incapacitated, or if his tenure was ended due to a criminal conviction.

#### Deputy Prime Minister

The position of Deputy Prime Minister is an honorary title carried by an incumbent Minister in the Israeli Government under the Basic law:the Government, that states the follows: "A minister may be a Deputy Prime Minister" (but no more than that). Thus, there is no limit to the number of deputies a Prime Minister can appoint (as opposed to an Acting Prime Minister, that can only be one).

#### Vice Prime Minister

The post of Vice Prime Minister, also sometimes referred to as Vice Premier, is an honorary title carried by an incumbent Minister of the Israeli Government, that does not exist under any Israeli law, and has no statutory meaning, which was originally created especially for one of Israeli founding fathers, Shimon Peres.

#### Aletrnate Prime Minister

The Alternate Prime Minister is the cabinet minister designated to replace the prime minister in a rotation government (Only Governments like Unity Governments, such as the Shamir-Peres Government in the 80s or Ondro-George Government in 2020). According to the Basic Law: The Government, the government swearing-in includes a target date for the prime minister and alternate prime minister to switch their posts. Government ministers report either to the prime minister or the alternate prime minister, with the prime minister being unable to dismiss cabinet ministers reporting to the alternate prime minister without the alternate prime minister's consent.

## **Prime Minister's residence**

During their term of office, the prime minister lives in Jerusalem. Since 1974, the official residence of the prime minister is Beit Aghion, at the corner of Balfour and Smolenskin streets in Rehavia.

## **See Also**

* Knesset
* The Israeli Government