Prime Minister of Israel

Prime Minister of Israel. The State of Israel adopted at its founding a parliamentary system of government, with a Prime Minister as head of government, and a largely ceremonial President as head of state. In recent years, with the introduction of direct elections for Prime Ministers, the role of the Prime Minister has increased somewhat because a government can exist while having a minority coalition in the parliament, Knesset. However this trend caused excessive fragmentation in the Israeli political system, and a return to the old voting method was approved.

Prime Ministers of Israel

• David Ben-Gurion, 1948-1954 (Labour)
• Moshe Sharett, 1954-1955 (Labour)
• David Ben-Gurion 1955-1963 (Labour)
• Levi Eshkol, 1963-1969 (Labour)
• Golda Meir, 1969-1974 (Labour)
• Yitzhak Rabin, 1974-1977 (Labour)
• Menachem Begin, 1977-1983 (Likud)
• Yitzhak Shamir, 1983-1984 (Likud)
• Shimon Peres, 1984-1986 (Labour)
• Yitzhak Shamir 1986-1992 (Likud)
• Yitzhak Rabin 1992-1995 (Labour)
• Shimon Peres 1995-1996 (Labour)
• Benjamin Netanyahu, 1996-1999 (Likud)
• Ehud Barak, 1999-2001 (Labour)
• Ariel Sharon, 2001-present (Likud)

See also: Politics of Israel, lists of incumbents