 Parties
According to the Parties Law (1992), a party is defined as a group of people who have come
together in order to pursue legally political or social goals, and to bring about their
representation in the Knesset. Since the passing of this law, there are clear regulations
regarding the establishment of parties, their registration with the Parties Registrar, their
institutions, assets, activities, finances, etc... The law also determines the limitations on a party's
potential registration. The following prohibitions are included in these limitations:
- Any rejection (in the party's goals or activities) of the existence of the State of Israel as a
Jewish, democratic state.
- Any incitement to racism.
- Any hint of a cover for illegal activity.
Lists
The bodies which participate in the Knesset elections are called "lists." A list must consist of at least one
registered party, but it could also contain several parties. (For example, in the elections for the
Fourteenth Knesset, the Likud, Gesher, and Tzomet parties united and ran in the elections as
the list, Likud-Gesher-Tzomet. In the current elections for the Fifteenth Knesset, the list "One Israel"
will run, and it consists of the Labor Party, Meimad, and Gesher.)
A list can also include individuals and movements that are not registered as parties. Such was the
case in the elections for the Fourteenth Knesset in the United Arab List which consisted of the Arab
Democratic Party (a registered party) and individuals from the Islamic Movement, which is not registered
as a party.
Parliamentary Groups (also known as "Factions")
Once a list is elected to the Knesset, it becomes a Parliamentary Group, even if the distinct
parties in it continue to function individually on the outside. According to the Parties Financing Law (1973),
the Knesset Committee may, after the elections, recognize a new parliamentary group in any of
the following situations: One which broke off from an existing parliamentary group (such as in
1984, Mapam broke off from the Alignment); a new parliamentary group which is made up of Knesset
members who were originally part of other groups (such as the new Center Party, made up of
Knesset members from Labor and the Likud); or a new parliamentary group which is created through
the unification of two existing parliamentary groups (which occurred in the Twelfth Knesset
when Meretz was formed from Ratz, Mapam, and Shinui).
The law also fixes limitations on the recognition of new parliamentary groups. Usually, before upcoming elections,
there is intensified activity setting up new parliamentary groups because the financing of parties depends
partly on the number of seats belonging to the corresponding parliamentary groups in the current
Knesset.
Movements
The law does not recognize movements as distinct legal entities. However, a movement may register
as a party, a non-profit organization, a company, or as any other legally recognized body. In
other words, "movement" is simply a word also used as part of a name ("youth movement," "Herut
Movement"), but by itself having no legal standing.
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