The Israeli public does not elect the members of the Knesset directly. As it is a representative electoral system, the voter casts his or her vote for a party rather than an individual. The party then selects a representative from its party list. However, political parties in Israel have to reach a 3.25 percent threshold to enter the parliament. Smaller parties tend to join as an alliance and produce a single electoral list to guarantee entry into the Knesset. Votes for parties which do not meet the threshold are essentially lost.
Each parliamentary term last for four years.
An absolute majority of the 120 seats is the premise to form a government in Israel. Generally, this can only be achieved through a coalition of parties from a similar political spectrum who agree to cooperate. The largest party from this coalition provides the prime minister. In the case of the 2019 parliamentary election, the right-wing Likud party of Benjamin Netanyahu was able to secure another term in the government.
The total population of Israel is estimated at around nine million people. About two million Jewish households and 441.3 thousand Arab and other minority households exist in Israel. Among those groups, 25 percent of Jewish and 39 percent of Arabs had little to no trust in the election's integrity.
Voter turnout for the 2019 election was about 67 percent, compared to 72 percent during the previous election in 2015. In total 4.3 million eligible votes were cast for this election.
Members of the Knesset represent the entire country and not a specific constituency.
The parliamentary election in Israel in 2019 scored a Freedom Rating of 2.5, which classified it as a free election.