The Knesset may dissolve itself or be dissolved by the Prime Minister at any time during the term and new elections are held to form a new Knesset.
The Knesset operates in plenary sessions and through 12 standing committees. In plenary sessions , general debates are conducted on proposed legislation which is submitted by either Knesset members or the government. .
In order to become a law a bill must pass three readings in the Knesset:.
1st reading - the bill is presented to all members of the Knesset which is followed by a short debate on the bill. If it passes the first vote, the bill is then sent to the special Knesset committee. They then discuss the bill again and make any changes to it if necessary. If the committee decides to go further with the bill they will then return it to the Knesset and they will read it again. After the 2nd reading and Knesset members who have anything to say reguarding the bill are given time to speak their opinions. As long as they don't have to send it back to the special committee the members will vote on each article of the bill. After this vote they read the bill one more time and a final vote is taken on the bill as a whole.
If the bill is passed it does not become a law until the minister of justice places the state seal on it.
The Executive Branch.
The executive authority of the state is the government. This is led by the Prime Minister and his cabinet. They are in charge of handling internal and foreign affairs.
The power of the government is extremely broad and they are authorized to take action on any issue. .
All the governments in Israel's history have been made up of several parties because no individual party has received enough Knesset seats to form a government by itself. To form a government, the prime minister must present a list of ministers to the Knesset within 45 days of election. .
There must be at least 8 and no more then 24 ministers and at least half of them must be Knesset members.