Knesset Law, 5754-1994
חוק הכנסת, תשנ"ד-1994
Published: 1994-05-04Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2025-04-01 · Last amended 2025-12-17✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-28
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Unofficial English translation — for reference only. It may contain errors or omissions and cannot be relied on as a legal text. Only the Hebrew text published in Reshumot is legally binding.More
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Chapter I: Opening of the Knesset
Opening Session of the Knesset§
1.
(a)
(1)The Knesset shall convene for its first session on the fourteenth day following the day of the elections to the Knesset, at four o'clock in the afternoon; if that day is one of the days enumerated in paragraph (2) — on the following day that is not one of those days;
(2)The following are the days on which the Knesset shall not convene for its first session: Friday, Saturday, a festival from among the festivals of Israel listed in section 18a(a) of the Law and Administration Ordinance, 5708-1948, and their eves, the intermediate days of a festival, Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day and its eve, Israel's Fallen Soldiers Remembrance Day and its eve, Independence Day, and Tisha B'Av and its eve;
(3)The Speaker of the Knesset may, on account of a day of rest, a holiday, a festival or a memorial day not enumerated in paragraph (2), and upon a request by a person elected to the incoming Knesset —
(a)postpone the first session of the Knesset to a day following the day fixed pursuant to paragraph (1) that is not one of the days enumerated in paragraph (2);
(b)change the time of convening of the Knesset referred to in paragraph (1).
(a1)The Knesset shall be opened by the President of the State, who shall transfer the conduct of the session to the Speaker of the Knesset or to the acting Speaker of the Knesset as referred to in section 20(a) of Basic Law: The Knesset; in the absence of the President of the State, the Knesset shall be opened by the Speaker of the Knesset or the acting Speaker of the Knesset as aforesaid.
(a2)Once the Speaker of the Knesset or the acting Speaker of the Knesset has opened the first session of the Knesset or has assumed the conduct thereof, he shall declare the oath of allegiance of the members of the Knesset.
(b)Once the Speaker of the Knesset or the acting Speaker of the Knesset has declared the oath of allegiance, Psalm 122 and passages from the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, appearing in the Schedule, shall be read before the plenary.
(c)The Speaker of the Knesset or the acting Speaker of the Knesset shall again read the oath of allegiance before the members of the Knesset, and each member of the Knesset shall rise, one after another, and declare:
"I undertake".
(d)The opening session shall be concluded with the singing of the State anthem "Hatikvah" in the version set out in the Schedule to the Flag, Symbol and Anthem of the State Law, 5709-1949.
Declaration after the Opening Session§
2.
A member of the Knesset who was not present at the opening session, or who became a member of the Knesset thereafter, shall declare the oath of allegiance at the first session at which he is present; the chairperson of the session shall read the text of the declaration before him, and the member of the Knesset shall rise and declare:
"I undertake".
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Contact Us →Chapter II: Committees
The Arrangements Committee§
2a.
(a)The Knesset shall elect, as early as possible after being elected, an arrangements committee; the arrangements committee shall be chaired by the member of the Knesset from the faction of the member of the Knesset upon whom the President of the State has imposed the task of forming a Government.
(b)Representation on the arrangements committee shall be in accordance with the relative size of the factions, provided that every faction with 4 or more members shall have a representative on the arrangements committee; a faction that has no representative on the arrangements committee may notify the committee that one of its members shall serve as an observer on its behalf on the committee; such an observer shall have no right to vote on the committee.
(c)The arrangements committee shall submit to the Knesset for approval a proposal regarding the composition of the standing committees.
(d)The arrangements committee shall, until the election of the Knesset Committee, have the powers of the Knesset Committee relating to the rules of procedure and the deliberations of the Knesset, as well as its power under section 10.
(e)Until the election of the Knesset committees, the arrangements committee may elect temporary committees for financial affairs and for foreign affairs and security, provided that the number of members of these committees does not exceed the number of members of the Finance Committee and the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee pursuant to the provisions of section 3(b); the chairperson of the arrangements committee shall give notice thereof to the Knesset.
Number of Members on Knesset Committees§
3.
(a)The number of members of a standing committee of the Knesset shall not exceed fifteen.
(b)The number of members of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee and the Finance Committee of the Knesset shall not exceed seventeen.
(c)The number of members of the Knesset Committee shall be determined by the Knesset, provided that the composition of the committee shall be, insofar as possible, in accordance with the balance of power among the factions in the Knesset.
(d)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b), the Knesset Committee may determine, by a majority of three-quarters of its members, that during the term of the Knesset in which the decision is adopted the number of members of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee shall not exceed nineteen and the number of members of the Finance Committee shall not exceed twenty.
Amendment to Basic Law: The Knesset – No. 16§
4.
In section 21 of Basic Law: The Knesset, subsection (c) — repealed.
Report by the Chief of General Staff§
4a.
The Chief of General Staff shall report to the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee of the Knesset from time to time and not less than once every two months on the activities of the Israel Defence Forces, and special reports shall also be submitted to the committee at its request; should the committee decide by a majority of its members that the matter is of special urgency, the Chief of General Staff shall report thereon to the committee or to a sub-committee thereof, as determined by the committee, as soon as possible and no later than 48 hours from the time the committee requested the report.
Deliberation in a Sub-Committee§
5.
(a)In this section —
"approval" — including consent, decision, consultation and any other similar act;
"committee" — a committee of the Knesset committees, including a joint committee.
(b)Where, pursuant to any law, the approval of a committee of the Knesset committees is required, the chairperson of the committee may, in consultation with the Speaker of the Knesset, determine that the approval shall be granted by a sub-committee of that committee, if satisfied that reasons of concern for harm to the security of the State or to its foreign relations require that the approval, or the deliberation in connection therewith, be kept confidential.
(c)The committee shall elect the members of the sub-committee; the number of members of the sub-committee shall not exceed five.
(d)The status of an approval granted by the sub-committee pursuant to this section shall be the same as the status of an approval granted by the committee.
(e)
(1)The sessions of the sub-committee pursuant to this section shall be confidential;
(2)Publication of matters stated or conveyed at the sessions of the sub-committee is prohibited, unless the sub-committee has decided otherwise.
(f)
(1)Without derogating from the provisions of subsections (b) to (e), where, pursuant to any law, the approval of the Finance Committee of the Knesset is required, the chairperson of the committee may, in consultation with the Speaker of the Knesset, determine that the approval shall be granted by a sub-committee of the Finance Committee, if satisfied that special reasons of concern for actual harm to a significant economic interest of the State require that the approval, or the deliberation in connection therewith, be kept confidential, and the provisions of subsection (d) shall apply;
(2)The Finance Committee of the Knesset shall elect the members of the sub-committee referred to in paragraph (1) at the commencement of the term of each Knesset; the number of members of the sub-committee shall be at least five, and some of them shall be members of the opposition factions, as defined in section 11(c);
(3)The sessions of the sub-committee pursuant to this subsection shall be confidential for a period to be determined by the sub-committee, being the shortest period required by the nature of the matter, and during that period the provisions of subsection (e)(2) shall apply.
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Contact Us →Chapter III: Election of Representatives
Election of Representatives§
6.
(a)In this section —
"criminal proceedings" — as defined in section 7(a);
"committee" —
(1)the committee for the selection of dayanim pursuant to section 6 of the Dayanim Law, 5715-1955;
(2)the appointments committee pursuant to section 4 of the Qadis Law, 5721-1961;
(3)the appointments committee pursuant to section 11 of the Druze Religious Courts Law, 5723-1962;
(4)the committee for the selection of judges pursuant to section 4 of Basic Law: The Judiciary.
(b)The Knesset may, in its Rules of Procedure, prescribe restrictions on the election of a member on its behalf to a committee, procedures for the suspension of a member of a committee against whom criminal proceedings are being conducted, until their conclusion, as well as procedures for the removal of a member of a committee from his office therein if he has been convicted following criminal proceedings.
(c)If the Knesset has removed a member of a committee from office, it shall elect another member in his place; if the Knesset has suspended a member of a committee from office, it shall elect another member in his place for the duration of the suspension.
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Contact Us →Chapter IV: Suspension and Removal from Office of the Speaker of the Knesset or of a Deputy Speaker
Suspension and Restrictions on the Tenure of the Speaker of the Knesset or of a Deputy Speaker — on Account of an Offence§
7.
(a)
(1)The Knesset may, by a decision of a majority of its members, suspend from office the Speaker of the Knesset or a Deputy Speaker of the Knesset for a period it shall determine, or impose restrictions on his tenure, if the Attorney General has transmitted a copy of an indictment against him as referred to in section 4(a) of the Members of Knesset Immunity, Rights and Duties Law, 5711-1951, or if criminal proceedings are being conducted against him, whether or not the Knesset has determined that he shall have immunity from criminal prosecution as referred to in sections 4 and 13 of that Law; the provisions of this subsection are in addition to the provisions of section 42b of Basic Law: The Knesset;
(2)For the purposes of this section, "criminal proceedings" — commencing with the filing of an indictment, except for the following offences:
(a)a traffic offence as defined in section 1 of the Traffic Ordinance [New Version], except for an offence under section 64a of the Ordinance;
(b)an offence designated as a fine offence under any enactment, in respect of which a prosecutor has not filed an indictment;
(c)an offence designated as an administrative offence under any enactment, in respect of which a prosecutor has not filed an indictment.
(b)(Repealed)
(c)The Knesset shall not suspend from office the Speaker of the Knesset or a Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, and shall not impose restrictions on his tenure, except pursuant to a proposal of the Knesset Committee adopted by a majority of its members.
(d)The Knesset Committee shall not propose the suspension from office of the Speaker of the Knesset or a Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, or the imposition of restrictions on his tenure, and the Knesset shall not decide to do so, except after an opportunity has been given to him to be heard.
(e)The vote in the Knesset Committee and in the Knesset shall be open.
(f)The procedural rules for deliberation in the Knesset Committee and in the Knesset shall be prescribed in the Rules of Procedure of the Knesset.
Removal from Office of the Speaker of the Knesset or of a Deputy Speaker — Not on Account of an Offence§
8.
(a)The Knesset may, by a decision of a majority of three-quarters of its members, remove from office the Speaker of the Knesset or a Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, if it has determined that he is unfit for his office on account of conduct unbecoming his status.
(b)The Knesset shall not remove from office the Speaker of the Knesset or a Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, except following a complaint brought before the Knesset Committee by at least 61 members of the Knesset and pursuant to a proposal of the Knesset Committee adopted by a majority of three-quarters of the members of the committee.
(c)A complaint as referred to in subsection (b) shall not be submitted unless the Ethics Committee of the Members of the Knesset has determined that the Speaker of the Knesset or that Deputy Speaker of the Knesset has acted in a manner unbecoming his status.
(d)The provisions of section 7(d) to (f) shall apply mutatis mutandis.
(e)(Repealed)
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Contact Us →Chapter IV-A: Termination of Membership of a Member of the Knesset in whom the Provisions of Section 7a(a)(2) or (3) of Basic Law: The Knesset are Fulfilled
Termination of Membership of a Member of the Knesset in whom the Provisions of Section 7a(a)(2) or (3) of Basic Law: The Knesset are Fulfilled§
8a.
(a)An application pursuant to section 42a(c) of Basic Law: The Knesset shall be submitted to the Speaker of the Knesset in writing, together with reasons and the material upon which it is based, and the Speaker shall refer it to the Knesset Committee for deliberation.
(b)If the Knesset Committee has decided not to propose the termination of membership of the member of the Knesset, its decision shall be final.
(c)The Knesset Committee shall not propose, and the Knesset shall not decide, to terminate the membership of a member of the Knesset, except after an opportunity has been given to that member of the Knesset, to the Legal Adviser to the Knesset and to the Attorney General to be heard; the member of the Knesset may be represented before the committee by a lawyer.
(d)The Knesset Committee shall not deliberate on the termination of membership of a member of the Knesset and shall not decide thereon, unless the member of the Knesset and the members of the committee have been notified of the holding of the deliberation and the vote at least ten days in advance; the Knesset shall not deliberate as aforesaid unless the Speaker of the Knesset has notified the members of the Knesset of the holding of the deliberation and the vote at least ten days in advance.
(e)The deliberation in the Knesset Committee shall take place within three weeks from the day the application reached the committee, at a time to be fixed by the chairperson of the committee; the deliberation in the Knesset shall take place within three weeks from the day of the decision of the Knesset Committee, at a time to be fixed by the Speaker of the Knesset.
(f)The procedural rules for deliberation in the Knesset Committee shall be governed by the provisions of the Rules of Procedure of the Knesset concerning the determination of immunity or the removal of a right from a member of the Knesset.
(g)An appeal to the Supreme Court as referred to in section 42a(c)(4) of Basic Law: The Knesset shall be filed within two days from the day of the decision of the Knesset, and the provisions of section 64(b1) of the Knesset Elections Law [Consolidated Version], 5729-1969, shall apply.
(h)For the purposes of section 42a(c)(5) of Basic Law: The Knesset, the election period shall end on the day of the convening of the Knesset as referred to in section 12 of the Basic Law and shall commence on one of the following, as the case may be:
(1)the 180th day before the day of the elections to the Knesset pursuant to section 9 of Basic Law: The Knesset;
(2)in elections held pursuant to a law for the dispersal of the Knesset, as referred to in section 34 of Basic Law: The Knesset — the day on which the law was adopted by the Knesset;
(3)in early elections held pursuant to the provisions of sections 11(b) or 29(f) of Basic Law: The Government, or pursuant to the provisions of section 36a of Basic Law: The Knesset — the day on which the cause for the holding of the early elections arose.
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LawConstitutional & Basic Laws
חוק הכנסת, תשנ"ד-1994
Knesset Law
Knesset Law 1994
Basic Law Knesset
Chok Haknesset
Israeli parliament law
Knesset elections law
Basic Law parliament
Knesset composition law