The Knesset is the house of representatives and legislature of the State of Israel, and the full range of current opinions in the country are represented therein. The Knesset is made up of one house, and there are 120 members elected from the lists of various parties. Members of Knesset are elected in general, national proportional elections at least once every four years.

At the same time, according to the laws of the State of Israel, parties that reject the existence of the State as the state of the Jewish people, or reject the democratic nature of Israel, or incite racism may not participate in the elections.

The name “Knesset” derives from the “Great Knesset” (Great Assembly) which convened in Jerusalem after the nation’s return Babylonian exile in the fifth century BCE. The number of members of Knesset was set also determined on the basis of the number of members of the Great Knesset. The Knesset’s procedures were also influenced among other things by the Zionist Congress and by the Assembly of Representatives during the period of the British Mandate in Israel.

During the time approaching the declaration of the State, a People’s Council was established that served as a quasi-legislature for the state about to be born. Upon declaration of the State, the Council became the Provisional State Council, that functioned as a legislature for the county until voting was held for Constituent Assembly, and later the Knesset.

The Knesset sits every year for a period of eight months, divided into two sessions – winter, beginning after the summer break, at the end of the Jewish holidays, and summer, beginning after the Passover break. Each Knesset may have up to five sessions. Sessions usually begin at the beginning of the winter session, and end at the end of the summer session. Most of the Knesset’s work is done in the plenum and in the committees.

Israel has separation of powers – the legislative branch (the Knesset), the executive branch (the Government) and the judicial branch (High Court of Justice/ the courts).

The central and most important role of the Knesset, by virtue of its being the legislative body of the State of Israel, is the legislation of laws, and the Knesset is the exclusive authority in the State for passing laws.

One of the most important roles of the Knesset is supervision over the work of the government. This is performed by the various Knesset committees and the work of the plenum. In addition, the Knesset may, by a vote of non-confidence, cause the termination of a Prime Minister’s term of office. However, a majority of all Knesset members serving must be achieved in order to achieve this.

As the heir of the Constituent Assembly, the Knesset has a constitutional role. Even today, the state still has no constitution. As a compromise, it was decided to pass laws with special status, called Basic Laws. In the absence of a constitution, it was resolved that the Basic Laws passed by the Knesset would in future become the constitution, after completion of the process of legislation.

The Knesset also has a number of quasi-judicial roles, including the power to lift the immunity of its members, and the power to have the President of Israel and the State Comptroller removed.

The Knesset has an elective function as well. Once every seven years the Knesset elects the President and the State Comptroller. Every Knesset chooses two of its members to serve on the committee for the appointment of judges. Knesset representatives participate in the appointment of Jewish Rabbinical judges, Muslim and Druze Cadis, and the Knesset committee chooses five of its members to represent it in the elective body of the Chief Rabbinical Council.

The general guidelines of the organization of the Knesset’s work were set out in the Basic Law: the Knesset. This law provides, beyond provisions regarding the composition of the Knesset, its sessions, those standing at its head and the committees, that the Knesset’s work is subject to three factors: laws, the Knesset constitution, including articles relating to the routine management of the Knesset, and the customary procedures and practices of the Knesset, if a particular matter is not dealt with by law or in the constitution.