Dozens of political parties began the process of registering to run in the elections for the 25th Knesset, which will take place at the beginning of November, Israel’s fifth round in a bit more than two years.
The lists include mainstream and well-known parties such as the Likud and Labor, as well as the less-known Pirates and other splinter factions. New names, including Youngsters on Fire, also joined the race. Several of the lists are reconfigurations of other parties, with politicians defecting from one list to the next.
The first party to submit its list on Wednesday to the Central Election Commission is “Us” led by attorney Mush Huja.
Members of Knesset are not elected directly, but only on lists that participate in the general elections. According to Israeli law, with few limitations, anyone can register to run for Knesset, promoting any concept.
The majority of the parties will not pass the voters threshold and will not receive the required minimum of four seats to enter the Knesset. A list that takes part in the elections must pass the qualifying electoral threshold, which is currently 3.25%. Only about 10 lists will find themselves as members of the 25th Knesset.
The lists of candidates that passed the threshold receive a number of Knesset seats which is proportional to their electoral strength. This distribution is done by the division of valid votes given to the lists by 120, to determine how many votes entitle a list to a single seat.
About 6,787,400 Israelis have the right to vote.
Polls show that Opposition Leader Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party is in the lead with about 33 seats, followed far behind by Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party with 22 seats.
The latest polls show that Netanyahu will have the best chances of forming a coalition, and his ability to secure a slim majority of 61 seats is the most realistic.
