Prime Minister of Israel

Prime Minister of Israel. The State of Israel adopted at its founding a parliamentary system of government, with a Prime Minister as head of government, and a largely ceremonial President as head of state. In recent years, with the introduction of direct elections for Prime Ministers, the role of the Prime Minister has increased somewhat because a government can exist while having a minority coalition in the parliament, Knesset. However this trend caused excessive fragmentation in the Israeli political system, and a return to the old voting method was approved.

Prime Ministers of Israel

1. David Ben-Gurion, 1948-1954, 1955-1963
2. Moshe Sharett, 1954-1955
3. Levi Eshkol, 1963-1969
4. Golda Meir, 1969-1974
5. Yitzhak Rabin, 1974-1977, 1992-1995
6. Menachem Begin, 1977-1983
7. Yitzhak Shamir, 1983-1984, 1986-1992
8. Shimon Peres, 1984-1986, 1995-1996
9. Benjamin Netanyahu, 1996-1999
10. Ehud Barak, 1999-2001
11. Ariel Sharon, 2001-present