The Speaker of the Knesset ( he, יוֹשֵׁב רֹאשׁ הכנסת, Yoshev Rosh HaKnesset, Chairman of the Knesset) is the presiding officer of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

, the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

legislature of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. The Speaker also acts as

President of Israel The president of the State of Israel ( he, נְשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Nesi Medinat Yisra'el, or he, נְשִׂיא הַמְדִינָה, Nesi HaMedina, President of the State) is the head of state of Israel. The posi ...

when the President is incapacitated. The current speaker is

Yariv Levin Yariv Gideon Levin (, born 22 June 1969) is an Israeli lawyer and politician who serves as Speaker of the Knesset since December 2022, previously serving that role from 2020 to 2021. He currently serves as a member of Knesset for Likud, and pre ...

, who was elected on 13 December 2022. To date,

Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda ( he, אַחְדוּת הַעֲבוֹדָה, lit. ''Labour Unity'') was the name used by a series of political parties. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the period ...

Nahum Nir Nahum Nir-Rafalkes ( he, נחום ניר, 17 March 1884 – 10 July 1968) was a Zionist activist, Israeli politician and one of the signatories of the Israeli declaration of independence. He was the only Speaker of the Knesset not to have be ...

and Blue & White's

Benny Gantz Benjamin Gantz ( he, בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ, Transliterated: ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general serving as the minister of Defense since 2020 and deputy prime minister of Israel s ...

are the only Speakers not to have come from the ruling party, though in two cases ( Avraham Burg and

Reuven Rivlin Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin ( he, רְאוּבֵן "רוּבִי" רִיבְלִין ; born 9 September 1939) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the tenth president of Israel between 2014 and 2021. He is a member of the Likud party. Riv ...

) the party of the speaker (

One Israel One Israel ( he, ישראל אחת, ''Yisrael Ahat'') was an alliance of the Labor Party, Meimad and Gesher created to run for the 1999 Knesset elections. Background One Israel was formed by Labor leader Ehud Barak in the run-up to the 199 ...

and

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon ...

respectively) lost power during their term. The speaker is expected to act in a non-partisan nature, but may occasionally take part in debates, and is allowed to vote. The speaker is assisted by a number of ''Deputy Speakers of the Knesset'' (currently 4). The Deputy Speakers are drawn from the breadth of parties represented in the Knesset. Together, the Speaker and the Deputy Speakers constitute the Praesidium of the Knesset.

Knesset Speakers (1949–present)

A total of sixteen people have served as Speaker of the Knesset, one of whom,

, have served two non-consecutive terms.

References

External links

Knesset Speakers since the first Knesset
Knesset website

{{KnessetSpeakers

Speakers Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

de:Knesset#Parlamentspräsident