Knesset
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The Knesset is Israel’s legislative body. It has 120 members who are elected from party lists in general, countrywide, proportional elections held every four years (or more often in case early elections are called for.)
The Knesset’s major function is legislative. Additional duties include establishing a government, taking policy decisions, reviewing government activities, and electing the President of the State and the State Comptroller. While the government is the sponsor of most bills, any Knesset Member can present a bill. The full Knesset elects the Speaker, who presides over deliberations in the plenum.
The Knesset has a committee system that deals with various issues. Committee chairmen and chairwomen are chosen by committee members, on the recommendation of the House Committee, and their factional composition resembles that of the Knesset itself.
On April 18, 1948, ahead of Israel’s declaration of independence, the People's Council was established.
On May 14, it became the Provisional State Council, which functioned as the new state’s legislature until the elections for the Constituent Assembly.
Until the end of 1949, the Provisional State Council held its meetings in Tel Aviv. On Dec. 26, the Knesset moved to a temporary residence in “Beit Frumin” on King George Street in Jerusalem, and in 1966 to its current location on Ben Gurion Square.
