rnment, pardoning prisoners, and attending functions and activities in accordance with Israel’s customs. The executive branch of the government is lead by Israel’s prime minister and other cabinet ministers who mostly represent dominant political blocks in the Knesset. For the first time in the next elections the prime minister will be directly elected into office. The purpose of the cabinet ministers in the executive branch is to control government ministries, such as foreign affairs, finance, education, etc . . .. The executive branch is responsible for developing a work plan for the government, which will dictate what the government does over the next four years. The legislative branch is called the Knesset, it resides in Jerusalem and is comprised of 120 parliamentary members. The individuals in the Knesset are elected at every five years, and are referred to as ministers. Average voter turn out for these elections is between 73 and 83 percent. Ministers are elected to the Knesset every four years, and representative party lists, instead of individuals, are voted on, and thus a whole group from the same party can be voted into the Knesset simultaneously. Every registered voter is able to vote in these elections. At the opening session the oldest person in the Knesset becomes the person who runs it. The Knesset policy can be overthrown if members of a party not in it protest against it and bring it down with a no-confidence vote. The only time a government was brought down in Israel was on March 15, 1990. At the head of the Knesset is the speaker, and the rest of the Knesset is divided into two parts, the plenary and the Knesset committees. All members of the Knesset sit on the plenary, and debates and votes are held in the plenary. The ministers are broken down into 13 different committees in order to deal with government issues. Issues to be voted on go through a list of people, but moti...
