THE STATE

Since its foundation in 1948, Israel has been a parliamentary democracy founded on principles of freedom, justice, and equality before the law and responsible government.

Who Runs the State?

The state is headed by a president who is elected every five years by Parliament. His duties are largely ceremonial. The actual decision-making process, though, is carried out by the prime minister and his cabinet and by a unicameral legislature called the Knesset (``Assembly''), which has 120 members.

How Elections Work

Members of the Knesset are elected by universal suffrage under a proportional representation system. This system has a tendency to lead to the proliferation of small parties, and visitors may be surprised at the large number of political parties, which vie for Knesset representation. There is some support for proposals to modify the system to one based partly on regional constituencies and partly on proportional representation.

Israel's proportional representation system was designed to reflect the ethnic, cultural and ideological diversity of Israeli society. That something-for-everybody approach may well make Israel the most democratic society in the world.

For each election, the various parties prepare lists of candidates, which are appointed by the party's central committee or elected by the party rank and file, and then listed according to importance within the party. Electors then choose between lists of candidates, and seats are allocated in proportion to the votes obtained.

Every citizen over 18, irrespective of sex, race or religion, can vote, and any citizen over 21 can stand for election. Perhaps because of the lively expression of so many views, Israelis take a huge interest in their elections.

An innovative feature of the 1996 elections is that the prime minister will be elected by direct vote.

Coalition Governments

Since no single party has ever succeeded in gaining an overall majority in Israel, all governments have been formed from coalitions between leading parties. From 1948, such coalitions were dominated by the Labour Party, but in 1977, the Likud Party, led by Menahem Begin, took power. Labor ended 15 years of Likud rule when it won the 1992 elections.

THE LEGAL SYSTEM

The law of Israel consists of five different systems: relics of Ottoman law, Orders-in-Council and Ordinances enacted by the British Mandatory Administration, the substance of English Common Law, Religious Law, and Israeli legislation.

There is no written constitution in Israel. In its absence, several Basic Laws have been enacted, and citizens' rights, on universal lines, are safeguarded by them and by the general law of the state. There is absolute equality before the law with no discrimination on grounds of creed, race or sex. Freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of worship and freedom of association are taken for granted.

THE COURTS

The law guarantees the complete independence of the courts. Civil judges are appointed by the President on the recommendation of a special nomination committee. Civil Courts are divided into three categories: Magistrate's Courts, District Courts, and the Supreme Court. The last is the highest court in the land. It hears appeals against District Court judgments, and also sits as the High Court of Justice. In this capacity it deals with complaints proffered by any citizen against governmental bodies.

Religious Courts deal with all matters of personal status - marriage, divorce, wills, adoption, etc. They rule according to religious law - be it Jewish (Rabbinical), Moslem (Shari'a), Druze, or one of the Christian Codes - insofar as that law does not contradict the law of the land. Supervised by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, their judgments are carried out by the process of the Civil Courts.

LABOUR ORGANIZATION

The largest of the four central labour organizations is the Histadrut, or General Federation of Labour. It is open to all workers, including members of cooperatives and of the liberal professions.

Almost all parties are represented at the Histadrut Convention, which is elected on a countrywide basis. Trade union work is done through elected works committees, local labour councils and national unions. Collective agreements with employers protect the workers' rights and conditions of work. Once an embodiment of socialist-communist economic theory, the Histadrut is now undergoing fairly radical changes.