Your Israeli Election Primer: It All Comes Down to 61
A general view shows the plenum at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun On Oct. 27, approximately 7.3 million eligible Israeli voters will pick one paper slip out of a tray of…
Assessment
Israel does not have direct prime ministerial elections. Voters choose a party slate, and the 120-seat Knesset determines who forms a coalition. The magic number is 61 seats, a bare majority. Without it, a government cannot pass budgets or laws reliably. The mechanics of coalition math, not national popularity, decide the outcome. Watch whether any bloc can realistically reach that threshold, because deadlock leads to yet another election cycle.