The Prime Minister is formally appointed by the President of the State after consultation with parties in the Knesset. Other ministers are directly appointed by the Prime Minister.
The Cabinet of Israel (Hebrew: ממשלת ישראל, romanized: Memshelet Yisra'el; Arabic: مجلس وزراء إسرائيل, romanized: Majlis Wuzaraʾ Israʾil) exercises executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the prime minister. The composition of the government must be approved by a vote of confidence in the Knesset (the Israeli parliament). Under Israeli law, the prime minister may dismiss members of the government but must do so in writing, and new appointees must be approved by the Knesset. Most ministers lead ministries, though some are ministers without portfolio. Most ministers are members of the Knesset, though only the Prime Minister and the "designated acting prime minister" are required to be Knesset members. Some ministers are also called deputy and vice-prime ministers. Unlike the designated acting prime minister, these roles have no statutory meanings. The government operates in accordance with the Basic Law. It meets on Sundays weekly in Jerusalem. There may be additional meetings if circumstances require it.
Unlike most cabinets in parliamentary regimes, the Israeli cabinet–officially described in the Basic Laws as the "Government"–is both the de jure and de facto executive authority in Israel. In most parliamentary regimes, the head of state is nominal chief executive, while bound by convention to act on the advice of the cabinet. In Israel, the Basic Laws explicitly vest executive power in the cabinet/Government, not the President.
Use of terms
The body discussed in this article is referred to in Israeli official documents as the Government of Israel. This is in accordance with the normal translation of its Hebrew name, (Hebrew: ממשלה, Memshala). In Israel, the term cabinet (Hebrew: קבינט) is generally used for the State-Security Cabinet (Hebrew: הקבינט המדיני-ביטחוניHaKabinet haMedini-Bitachoni), a smaller forum of cabinet members that decides on defense and foreign policy issues and may consist of up to half of the (full) cabinet members. Another term in use is the Kitchen Cabinet (Hebrew: המטבחון, HaMitbahon, lit. "The kitchenette"), a collection of senior officials, or unofficial advisers to the Security Cabinet of Israel.
The first government was the provisional government of Israel (HaMemshala HaZmanit) which governed from shortly before independence until the formation of the first formal government in March 1949 following the first Knesset elections in January that year. It was formed as the People's Administration (Minhelet HaAm) on 12 April 1948, in preparation for independence just over a month later. All its thirteen members were taken from Moetzet HaAm, the temporary legislative body set up at the same time.
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