Speaker of the Knesset facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Speaker of the Knesset |
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| Seat | Jerusalem, Israel |
| Appointer | Knesset |
| Formation | 14 February 1949 |
| First holder | Yosef Sprinzak |
| Website | Knesset |
The Speaker of the Knesset (Hebrew: יוֹשֵׁב רֹאשׁ הכנסת, romanized: Yoshev Rosh HaKnesset, Arabic: رئيس الكنيست, romanized: Ra'īs Al-Kinisit, lit. 'Chairman of the Knesset') is the presiding officer of the Knesset, the unicameral legislature of Israel. The Speaker also acts as President of Israel when the President is incapacitated. The current speaker is Amir Ohana, who was elected on 29 December 2022.
Position
The Speaker and their deputies are elected by members of the Knesset. Until a Speaker is elected, the oldest Knesset member who is not the prime minister, the prime minister-elect, a minister or deputy minister, serves as acting speaker.
The Speaker is responsible for conducting the affairs of the Knesset and representing the Knesset. They are also charged with preserving the dignity of the Knesset, the decorum of its sittings and observance of Knesset rules of procedure.
The Speaker is assisted by a number of Deputy Speakers. Together, the Speaker and Deputy Speakers constitute the Presidium of the Knesset. The Presidium sets the Knesset agenda.
Ahdut HaAvoda's Nahum Nir and Blue & White's Benny Gantz are the only Speakers not to have come from the ruling party, though in two cases (Avraham Burg and Reuven Rivlin) the party of the speaker (One Israel and Likud 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.
List of Knesset speakers
A total of twenty people have served as Speaker of the Knesset, two of whom, Reuven Rivlin and Yariv Levin, have served two non-consecutive terms.
| Speaker | Knesset | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Portrait | Name (Lifespan) |
Term of office | Political party | ||
| 1 |  |
Yosef Sprinzak (1885–1959) |
14 February 1949 | 28 January 1959 | Mapai | 1, 2, 3 |
| 2 |  |
Nahum Nir (1884–1968) |
2 March 1959 | 30 November 1959 | Ahdut HaAvoda | 3 |
| 3 |  |
Kadish Luz (1895–1972) |
30 November 1959 | 17 November 1969 | Mapai, Alignment | 4, 5, 6 |
| 4 |  |
Reuven Barkat (1906–1972) |
17 November 1969 | 5 April 1972 | Alignment | 7 |
| 5 |  |
Yisrael Yeshayahu Sharabi (1908–1979) |
9 May 1972 | 13 June 1977 | Alignment | 7, 8 |
| 6 | .jpg) |
Yitzhak Shamir (1915–2012) |
13 June 1977 | 10 March 1980 | Likud | 9 |
| 7 | .jpg) |
Yitzhak Berman (1913–2013) |
12 March 1980 | 20 July 1981 | Likud | 9 |
| 8 |  |
Menachem Savidor (1917–1988) |
20 July 1981 | 13 August 1984 | Likud | 10 |
| 9 |  |
Shlomo Hillel (1923–2021) |
11 September 1984 | 20 November 1988 | Alignment | 11 |
| 10 | Dov Shilansky (1924–2010) |
21 November 1988 | 13 July 1992 | Likud | 12 | |
| 11 |  |
Shevah Weiss (1935–2023) |
13 July 1992 | 24 June 1996 | Labor | 13 |
| 12 |  |
Dan Tichon (born 1937) |
24 June 1996 | 7 June 1999 | Likud | 14 |
| 13 |  |
Avraham Burg (born 1955) |
6 July 1999 | 17 February 2003 | One Israel, Labor | 15 |
| 14 |  |
Reuven Rivlin (born 1939) |
19 February 2003 | 4 May 2006 | Likud | 16 |
| 15 |  |
Dalia Itzik (born 1952) |
4 May 2006 | 30 March 2009 | Kadima | 17 |
| (14) | |
Reuven Rivlin (born 1939) |
30 March 2009 | 5 February 2013 | Likud | 18 |
| 16 |  |
Yuli-Yoel Edelstein (born 1958) |
18 March 2013 | 25 March 2020 | Likud | 19, 20, 21, 22 |
| 17 | .jpg) |
Benny Gantz (born 1959) |
26 March 2020 | 17 May 2020 | Blue & White | 23 |
| 18 | .JPG) |
Yariv Levin (born 1969) |
17 May 2020 | 13 June 2021 | Likud | 23 |
| 19 | _(cropped).jpeg) |
Mickey Levy (born 1951) |
13 June 2021 | 13 December 2022 | Yesh Atid | 24 |
| (18) | |
Yariv Levin (born 1969) |
13 December 2022 | 29 December 2022 | Likud | 25 |
| 20 | .jpg) |
Amir Ohana (born 1976) |
29 December 2022 | Incumbent | Likud | 25 |
