List of prime ministers of Israel facts for kids

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's current Prime Minister

This article lists the leaders of Israel who have served as Prime Minister since the country became independent in 1948. The Prime Minister is the head of the government in Israel.

Israel's Prime Ministers (1948–Today)

So far, fourteen different people have been Prime Minister of Israel. Five of them have served more than once, not always in a row. One person, Yigal Allon, was only an acting Prime Minister, meaning he filled in temporarily. Two others who started as acting Prime Ministers later became the official Prime Minister.

Mapai/Alignment/Labor (7)           Herut/Likud (4)           Kadima (2)           Yamina (1)            Yesh Atid (1)
No.	Name (Born–Died)	Portrait	Political Party	Time in Office		Elected (Knesset)		Government
								No.	Type of Government
1	David Ben-Gurion (1886–1973)		Mapai	14 May 1948	10 March 1949	—		Temporary	First government
				10 March 1949	1 November 1950	1949 (1st)		1st	Coalition
				1 November 1950	8 October 1951			2nd
				8 October 1951	24 December 1952	1951 (2nd)		3rd	Coalition
				24 December 1952	7 December 1953			4th	Coalition
2	Moshe Sharett (1894–1965)		Mapai	7 December 1953	26 January 1954
				26 January 1954	29 June 1955			5th
				29 June 1955	3 November 1955			6th	Coalition
(1)	David Ben-Gurion (1886–1973)		Mapai	3 November 1955	7 January 1958	1955 (3rd)		7th	Coalition
				7 January 1958	17 December 1959			8th
				17 December 1959	2 November 1961	1959 (4th)		9th
				2 November 1961	26 June 1963	1961 (5th)		10th	Coalition
3	Levi Eshkol (1895–1969)		Mapai	26 June 1963	22 December 1964			11th
				22 December 1964	12 January 1966			12th
			Alignment Mapai/Labor	12 January 1966	26 February 1969	1965 (6th)		13th	Coalition
—	Yigal Allon (1918–1980) Acting		Alignment Labor	26 February 1969	17 March 1969
4	Golda Meir (1898–1978)		Alignment Labor	17 March 1969	15 December 1969			14th
				15 December 1969	10 March 1974	1969 (7th)		15th	Coalition
				10 March 1974	3 June 1974	1973 (8th)		16th	Coalition
5	Yitzhak Rabin (1922–1995)		Alignment Labor	3 June 1974	20 June 1977			17th	Coalition
6	Menachem Begin (1913–1992)		Herut Likud	20 June 1977	5 August 1981	1977 (9th)		18th	Coalition
				5 August 1981	10 October 1983	1981 (10th)		19th	Coalition
7	Yitzhak Shamir (1915–2012)		Herut Likud	10 October 1983	13 September 1984			20th
8	Shimon Peres (1923–2016)		Alignment Labor	13 September 1984	20 October 1986	1984 (11th)		21st	Coalition
(7)	Yitzhak Shamir (1915–2012)		Herut Likud	20 October 1986	22 December 1988			22nd
			Likud	22 December 1988	11 June 1990	1988 (12th)		23rd	Coalition
				11 June 1990	13 July 1992			24th	Coalition
(5)	Yitzhak Rabin (1922–1995)		Labor	13 July 1992	4 November 1995	1992 (13th)		25th	Coalition
—	Shimon Peres (1923–2016)		Labor	4 November 1995	22 November 1995			26th
(8)				22 November 1995	18 June 1996
9	Benjamin Netanyahu (born 1949)		Likud	18 June 1996	6 July 1999	1996 (14th)		27th	Coalition
10	Ehud Barak (born 1942)		One Israel Labor	6 July 1999	7 March 2001	1999	(15th)	28th	Coalition
11	Ariel Sharon (1928–2014)		Likud	7 March 2001	28 February 2003	2001		29th	Coalition
				28 February 2003	21 November 2005	2003 (16th)		30th	Coalition
			Kadima	21 November 2005	(4 January 2006) 14 April 2006				Coalition
—	Ehud Olmert (born 1945)		Kadima	4 January 2006	14 April 2006
12				14 April 2006	4 May 2006
				4 May 2006	31 March 2009	2006 (17th)		31st	Coalition
(9)	Benjamin Netanyahu (born 1949)		Likud	31 March 2009	18 March 2013	2009 (18th)		32nd	Coalition
				18 March 2013	6 May 2015	2013 (19th)		33rd	Coalition
				6 May 2015	9 April 2019	2015 (20th)		34th	Coalition
—				9 April 2019	17 May 2020	Apr 2019 (21st)
						Sep 2019 (22nd)
(9)				17 May 2020	13 June 2021	2020 (23rd)		35th	Coalition
13	Naftali Bennett (born 1972)		Yamina	13 June 2021	30 June 2022	2021 (24th)		36th	Coalition
14	Yair Lapid (born 1963)		Yesh Atid	1 July 2022	29 December 2022
(9)	Benjamin Netanyahu (born 1949)		Likud	29 December 2022	Incumbent	2022 (25th)		37th	Coalition

How Long They Served

This section shows how many years each Prime Minister served in office.

• Benjamin Netanyahu: 17 years, 265 days as of 20 June 2025 (His first time was 3 years and 18 days; second time was 12 years and 74 days; third time started on December 29, 2022)
• David Ben-Gurion: 13 years and 127 days (His first time was 5 years and 257 days; second time was 7 years and 235 days)
• Yitzhak Shamir: 6 years and 242 days (His first time was 339 days; second time was 5 years and 268 days)
• Yitzhak Rabin: 6 years and 132 days (His first time was 3 years and 18 days; second time was 3 years and 114 days)
• Menachem Begin: 6 years and 113 days
• Levi Eshkol: 5 years and 247 days
• Ariel Sharon: 5 years and 39 days
• Golda Meir: 5 years and 19 days
• Ehud Olmert: 2 years and 351 days
• Shimon Peres: 2 years and 264 days (His first time was 2 years and 37 days; second time was 227 days)
• Moshe Sharett: 1 year and 281 days
• Ehud Barak: 1 year and 245 days
• Naftali Bennett: 1 year and 17 days
• Yair Lapid: 181 days
• Yigal Allon: 19 days (He was an acting Prime Minister)

Prime Ministers' Lifespans

This is a chart showing the lives of Israel's Prime Ministers. They are listed in the order they first served.

More to Explore

• List of Jewish leaders in the Land of Israel
• List of presidents of Israel
• List of prime ministers of Israel by place of birth
• Prime Minister of Israel