Background

The Knesset is Israel's Parliament, a 120-seat unicameral chamber elected by proportional representation for four-year terms. It sits in Jerusalem and has operated continuously since its first session in 1949, the year after the state of Israel was founded. The Knesset enacts all legislation, approves the state budget, elects the President, and can remove the Prime Minister through a vote of no confidence. Coalition governments are the norm given Israel's proportional system: no single party has ever won an outright majority, making small faction leaders pivotal and coalitions inherently fragile. The 25th Knesset, elected in November 2022, returned Benjamin Netanyahu to power at the head of the most right-wing government in Israel's history, with Coalition partners including Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism party and Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit.

In the 2026 Iran conflict the Knesset building became a marker of the war's physical reach: intercepted Iranian missile debris fell near the Knesset and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City in March 2026, the debris field reaching the most politically and religiously concentrated kilometre of real estate on earth. The Knesset's political composition shaped Israel's response to the conflict: FAR-right Coalition ministers used the chamber's platform to reject any negotiated outcome, with Ben-Gvir declaring the June 2026 Islamabad memorandum "does not bind us in any way" and Smotrich demanding ten buildings in Beirut destroyed for every Hezbollah drone fired. Even the opposition, led by former defence minister Benny Gantz, called the memorandum a strategic failure.

The Knesset's wider significance lies in its role as the pressure valve for Israeli democratic tensions. A judicial overhaul package passed in 2023 triggered the largest protest movement in Israeli history and degraded the Supreme Court's oversight powers. The 2026 wartime government has operated with minimal parliamentary scrutiny, with Netanyahu and Defence Minister Katz authorising significant military actions without prior cabinet approval, compressing the Knesset's constitutional role further.

Common Questions

How many seats does the Knesset have?

The Knesset has 120 seats. Israel elects its Parliament by proportional representation, and no single party has ever won an outright majority, meaning governments are always formed by coalitions.Source: Lowdown

What did Israeli politicians say about the Iran ceasefire deal?

The Israeli political response to the June 2026 Islamabad memorandum was unanimous rejection across the Coalition and opposition. National Security Minister Ben-Gvir said the deal did not bind Israel; Finance Minister Smotrich called for Beirut buildings destroyed for every Hezbollah drone; even opposition leader Gantz called it a strategic failure.Source: Lowdown

Was the Knesset hit by Iranian missiles?

Fragments from intercepted Iranian missiles fell near the Knesset building in Jerusalem's Old City in March 2026. No structural damage was reported to the Parliament itself, but debris reached nearby residential areas and religious sites including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.Source: Lowdown

Who is in charge of the Israeli parliament in 2026?

The 25th Knesset, elected in November 2022, is dominated by a right-wing Coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Religious Zionism (Smotrich) and Otzma Yehudit (Ben-Gvir) as junior partners. The opposition is led by former defence minister Benny Gantz.Source: Lowdown

What is Israel's judicial overhaul and how does it affect the Knesset?

The Netanyahu Coalition passed a judicial overhaul in 2023 that restricted the Supreme Court's power to review Knesset legislation, triggering the largest protest movement in Israeli history. Critics argued the reform removed the main check on Parliament's power; the wartime government has since operated with further reduced parliamentary oversight.Source: Lowdown

How the World Sees Them

Iran

Tehran frames the Knesset's far-right composition as evidence that the Israeli state has no legitimate peace-seeking faction capable of making binding commitments; the coalition's public rejection of Trump's memorandum reinforces that framing.

United States

Washington monitors the Knesset's extreme-right faction as the main political constraint on Netanyahu's ability to accept any negotiated settlement; Ben-Gvir and Smotrich's public rejection of the Islamabad MOU was read as defiance in Washington as much as in Jerusalem.

European Union

EU governments track the Knesset as the institution where Israel's democratic backsliding is most legible: the 2023 judicial overhaul passed through the chamber, and wartime governance has further compressed parliamentary oversight.

Palestinian Authority

The Knesset's current composition, with parties openly committed to West Bank annexation in cabinet posts, is seen as the legislative expression of a settlement agenda that forecloses a two-state outcome.