Leader of the Opposition (Israel)

Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition
יוֹשֵׁב רֹאשׁ הַאוֹפּוֹזִיצְיָה‎; Yoshev Rosh Ha-Opozitzya
	Incumbent; Benjamin Netanyahu; since 28 June 2021
Term length	While leader of the largest political party in the Knesset that is not in government
First holder	Meir Ya'ari

In Israel, the Leader of the Opposition (Hebrew: רֹאשׁ הַאוֹפּוֹזִיצְיָה, Rosh HaOpozitzya) is the politician who leads the Official Opposition in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. The Leader of the Opposition is, by convention, the leader of the largest political party in the Knesset that is not in (or supports) the government.

History[]

Informal role, until 2000[]

Until 2000, the role of the Opposition Leader was not an official position, but rather an honorary role. The Leader of the Opposition was the leader of the largest party not in government. This was either Likud or Labor, with short exceptions during national unity governments of 1967–1970 and 1984–1990.

Even with the absence of a law defining the role of the Opposition Leader, it was customary for the Prime Minister to hold regular meetings with the leader of the largest opposition party. However, it was carried out only at the prerogative of the Prime Minister.

Formalised role, post-2000[]

In early 2000, two bills to amend the Opposition Leader's status were submitted to the Knesset, one by the government and one by MK Uzi Landau. The bills were merged into one amendment, and on 17 July 2000, the Knesset approved Amendment 8 to the "Knesset Law" of 1994, adding chapter 6 that outlined the role of the Leader of the Opposition.^[2] The law stipulates the selection of the Opposition Leader, the method of their replacement, regulates their ceremonial role in various official events, and obliges the prime minister to update them once a month. The law also stipulates that the Opposition Leader's salary will be determined by Knesset committee, and shall not be lower than a salary of a Cabinet minister.

List of Opposition leaders[]

Leaders of the largest opposition party[]

Name (Birth–Death)		Party	Term start	Term end	Government opposed to
1	Meir Ya'ari מאיר יערי‎ (1897–1987)	Mapam	10 March 1949	8 October 1951	1
1	Meir Ya'ari מאיר יערי‎ (1897–1987)	Mapam	10 March 1949	8 October 1951	2
2	Peretz Bernstein פרץ ברנשטיין‎ (1890–1971)	General Zionists	8 October 1951	24 December 1952	3
(1)	Meir Ya'ari מאיר יערי‎ (1897–1987)	Mapam	24 December 1952	29 June 1955	4
(1)	Meir Ya'ari מאיר יערי‎ (1897–1987)	Mapam	24 December 1952	29 June 1955	5
(2)	Peretz Bernstein פרץ ברנשטיין‎ (1890–1971)	General Zionists	29 June 1955	3 November 1955	6
3	Menachem Begin מנחם בגין‎ (1913–1992)	Herut	3 November 1955	5 June 1967	7
					8
					9
					10
					11
					12
		Gahal Herut			13
4	Yitzhak-Meir Levin יצחק-מאיר לוין‎ (1893–1971)	Agudat Yisrael	5 June 1967	6 August 1970	14
4	Yitzhak-Meir Levin יצחק-מאיר לוין‎ (1893–1971)	Agudat Yisrael	5 June 1967	6 August 1970	15
(3)	Menachem Begin מנחם בגין‎ (1913–1992)	Gahal Herut	6 August 1970	20 June 1977
		Likud Herut
					16
					17
5	Shimon Peres שמעון פרס‎ (1923–2016)	Alignment Labor Party	20 June 1977	13 September 1984	18
					19
					20
6	Yuval Ne'eman יובל נאמן‎ (1925–2006)	Tehiya-Tzomet Tehiya	13 September 1984	22 December 1988	21
		Tehiya-Tzomet Tehiya			22
		Tehiya			22
7	Shulamit Aloni שולמית אלוני‎ (1928–2014)	Ratz	22 December 1988	15 March 1990	23
(5)	Shimon Peres שמעון פרס‎ (1923–2016)	Alignment Labor Party	15 March 1990	13 July 1992	24
(5)	Shimon Peres שמעון פרס‎ (1923–2016)	Labor Party	15 March 1990	13 July 1992	24
8	Yitzhak Shamir יצחק שמיר‎ (1915–2012)	Likud	13 July 1992	24 March 1993	25
9	Benjamin Netanyahu בנימין נתניהו‎ (born 1949)		24 March 1993	18 June 1996	25
					26
		Likud-Gesher-Tzomet Likud			26
(5)	Shimon Peres שמעון פרס‎ (1923–2016)	Labor Party	18 June 1996	1 July 1997	27
10	Ehud Barak אהוד ברק‎ (born 1942)	Labor Party	1 July 1997	6 July 1999
10	Ehud Barak אהוד ברק‎ (born 1942)	One Israel Labor Party	1 July 1997	6 July 1999
11	Ariel Sharon אריאל שרון‎ (1928–2014)	Likud	6 July 1999	30 July 2000	28

Designated Opposition Leaders[]

After Amendment 8 to the "Knesset law" of 1994 was passed, the Leader of the Opposition became the person elected by the largest faction of the opposition.

Name (Birth–Death)		Party	Term start	Term end	Government opposed to
1	Ariel Sharon אריאל שרון‎ (1928–2014)	Likud	31 July 2000	7 March 2001	28
2	Yossi Sarid יוסי שריד‎ (1940–2015)	Meretz	7 March 2001	4 November 2002	29
3	Binyamin Ben-Eliezer בנימין בן אליעזר‎ (1936–2016)	Labor Party	4 November 2002	12 March 2003	29
4	Amram Mitzna עמרם מצנע‎ (born 1945)	Labor-Meimad Labor Party	12 March 2003	13 May 2003	30
5	Dalia Itzik דליה איציק‎ (born 1952)		13 May 2003	25 June 2003
6	Shimon Peres שמעון פרס‎ (1923–2016)		25 June 2003	10 January 2005
7	Yosef Lapid יוסף לפיד‎ (1931–2008)	Shinui	10 January 2005	23 November 2005
8	Amir Peretz עמיר פרץ‎ (born 1952)	Labor-Meimad Labor Party	23 November 2005	16 January 2006
9	Benjamin Netanyahu בנימין נתניהו‎ (born 1949)	Likud	16 January 2006	17 April 2006
9	Benjamin Netanyahu בנימין נתניהו‎ (born 1949)	Likud	17 April 2006	6 April 2009	31
10	Tzipi Livni ציפי לבני‎ (born 1958)	Kadima	6 April 2009	2 April 2012	31
11	Shaul Mofaz שאול מופז‎ (born 1948)	Kadima	2 April 2012	9 May 2012
12	Shelly Yachimovich שלי יחימוביץ׳‎ (born 1960)	Labor Party	9 May 2012	23 July 2012
(11)	Shaul Mofaz שאול מופז‎ (born 1948)	Kadima	23 July 2012	5 February 2013
(12)	Shelly Yachimovich שלי יחימוביץ׳‎ (born 1960)	Labor Party	5 February 2013	25 November 2013	32
13	Isaac Herzog יצחק הרצוג‎ (1960–)	Labor Party	25 November 2013	14 May 2015
		Zionist Union Labor Party	25 November 2013	14 May 2015
		Zionist Union Labor Party	14 May 2015	31 July 2018
(10)	Tzipi Livni ציפי לבני‎ (born 1958)	Zionist Union Hatnuah	1 August 2018	1 January 2019
(13)	Shelly Yachimovich שלי יחימוביץ׳‎ (born 1960)	Labor Party	1 January 2019	30 April 2019
	Vacant ^[a]		30 April 2019	17 May 2020
14	Yair Lapid יאיר לפיד‎ (born 1963)	Yesh Atid	17 May 2020	6 April 2021
(9)	Benjamin Netanyahu בנימין נתניהו‎ (born 1949)	Likud	28 June 2021	Present

Notes[]

^ Due to the 2019–2021 Israeli political crisis, No coalition was formed during the terms of the 21st and 22nd Knessets. However, Benny Gantz, leader of the largest opposition party Blue and White, served as de facto opposition leader at the time

References[]

^ Leader of the Opposition Knesset
^ "Leader of the Opposition". knesset.gov.il. 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2020.

External links[]

Chapter 6: Leader of the Opposition, The Knesset law of 1994 Wikisource (in Hebrew)

[3] Due to the 2019–2021 Israeli political crisis, No coalition was formed during the terms of the 21st and 22nd Knessets. However, Benny Gantz, leader of the largest opposition party Blue and White, served as de facto opposition leader at the time

[1] Leader of the Opposition Knesset

[2] "Leader of the Opposition". knesset.gov.il. 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2020.

[1]

[2]

[a]

v t Leaders of the Opposition in Israel
Leader of the largest opposition party	Ya'ari (1949–51) Bernstein (1951–52) Ya'ari (1952–55) Bernstein (1955) Begin (1955–67) Levin (1967–70) Begin (1970–77) Peres (1977–84) Ne'eman (1984–88) Aloni (1988–90) Peres (1990–92) Shamir (1992–93) Netanyahu (1993–96) Peres (1996–97) Barak (1997–99) Sharon (1999–2000)
Officially designated Opposition Leader	Sharon (2000–01) Sarid (2001–03) Mitzna (2003) Itzik (2003) Peres (2003–05) Tommy Lapid (2005) Peretz (2005–06) Netanyahu (2006–09) Livni (2009–12) Mofaz (2012) Yachimovich (2012) Mofaz (2012–13) Yachimovich (2013) Herzog (2013–2018) Livni (2018–19) Yachimovich (2019) Lapid (2020–21) Netanyahu (2021–)

Leader of the Opposition
יוֹשֵׁב רֹאשׁ הַאוֹפּוֹזִיצְיָה‎ Yoshev Rosh Ha-Opozitzya
Incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu since 28 June 2021^[1]
Term length	While leader of the largest political party in the Knesset that is not in government
First holder	Meir Ya'ari