National holiday: Independence Day, 14 May 1948 (Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, but the Jewish calendar is lunar and the holiday may occur in April or May)
Constitution: no formal constitution; some of the functions of a
constitution are filled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948),
the basic laws of the parliament (Knesset), and the Israeli
citizenship law
Legal system: mixture of English common law, British Mandate
regulations, and, in personal matters, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim
legal systems; in December 1985, Israel informed the UN Secretariat
that it would no longer accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Ezer WEIZMAN (since 13 May 1993) was
elected for a five-year term by the Knesset; election last held 24
March 1993 (next to be held NA March 1998); results - Ezer WEIZMAN
elected by Knesset
head of government: Prime Minister Shimon PERES (since 15 November
1995) was appointed by the president following the assassination of
Prime Minister Yitzhak RABIN
cabinet: Cabinet was selected from and approved by the Knesset
Legislative branch: unicameral
parliament (Knesset): elections last held NA June 1992 (next to be
held 29 May 1996); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats -
(120 total) Labor 44, Likud 32, MERETZ 12, Tzomet 8, National
Religious Party 6, SHAS 6, United Torah Jewry 4, Democratic Front
for Peace and Equality (Hadash) 3, Moledet 3, Arab Democratic Party
2; note - the distribution of seats as of January 1996 is as follows
- Labor Party 45, Likud bloc 33, MERETZ 12, National Religious Party
6, SHAS 6, Tzomet 5, United Torah Jewry 4, Democratic Front for
Peace and Equality (Hadash) 3, Moledet 2, Arab Democratic Party 2,
Yi'ud 1 (in coalition), Right of Israel 1
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders:
members of the government: Labor Party, Prime Minister Shimon PERES;
MERETZ, Minister of Environment Yossi SARID; Yi'ud, Gonen SEGEV
not in coalition but voting with the government: Democratic Front
for Peace and Equality (Hadash), Hashim MAHAMID; Arab Democratic
Party, Abd al Wahab DARAWSHAH
opposition parties: Likud Party, Binyamin NETANYAHU; Tzomet, Rafael
EITAN; National Religious Party, Zevulun HAMMER; United Torah Jewry,
Avraham SHAPIRA; Moledet, Rehavam ZEEVI; Peace Guard (independent),
Shaul GUTMAN; SHAS, Arieh DERI; Right of Israel, leader NA
note: Israel currently has a coalition government comprising three
parties that hold 58 seats of the Knesset's 120 seats
Other political or pressure groups: Gush Emunim, Israeli nationalists advocating Jewish settlement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Peace Now supports territorial concessions in the West Bank and is critical of government's Lebanon policy
International organization participation: AG (observer), BSEC (observer), CCC, CE (observer), CERN (observer), EBRD, ECE, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, OAS (observer), OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO