64 Questions


Early Years	Work	Building	Festive Sittings	64 Questions	Photo Anthology

64 Questions

In Pre-state Times

	1. What was "Knesset Yisrael"?

	2. What was "Asefat Hanivcharim" (Assembly of Representatives)?

	3. What was the governing body that preceded the Knesset?

Members of the fourth Assembly of
Representatives, September 9,1944

Proclamation of Independence

	4. What is the official name of Israel's Proclamation of Independence?

	5. Where and when was Israel's Proclamation of Independence signed?

	6. Who was not present at the ceremony of the Declaration of Israel's Independence, and yet his signature appears on the Proclamation?

	7. Where is the original copy of Israel's Proclamation of Independence?

The signatures on the Proclamation of Independence

The Knesset's Beginnings

	8. When did the Constituent Assembly convene for its first sitting?

	9. From when is the name "Knesset" used to refer to the parliament of Israel?

	10. What is the Transition Law and when was it passed?

	11. What is the origin of the name "Knesset?"

	12. Where was the first sitting of the Knesset?

	13. Where were the early meetings of the First Knesset regularly held?

	14. Where were the meetings of the Knesset held between the years 1950 and 1966?

	15. What was the original name of Israel's National Anthem? What type of melody is it, and when was it first sung?

David Ben Gurion stands at the playing of
Israel's national anthem before the first
sitting of the Constituent Assembly

The Work of the Knesset

	16. What are the three main roles of the Knesset?

	17. Which state functionaries are elected by the Knesset?

	18. Who opens the first sitting of each new Knesset? And who administers it?

	19. Which regulations set the work procedures of the Knesset?

	20. Which government member of office – the prime minister, ministers and deputy ministers – does not have to be a member of the Knesset?

	21. How many Knesset members function as deputies to the Speaker of the Knesset?

	22. Who fills in for the President of the State in his absence?

	23. The signatures of how many Knesset members are needed for summoning the Prime Minister to a debate at the plenum?

	24. How many permanent (standing) committees function in the Knesset?

	25. How is the factional makeup of Knesset committees determined?

	26. When was the first Director General appointed in the Knesset?

Outgoing Knesset Speaker Yisrael Yeshayahu
hands over the gavel to incoming speaker,
Yitzhak Shamir, June 13, 1977

Parliamentarism

	27. What was the "Harari Proposal"?

	28. What is the "status quo"?

	29. What is the "Historical Alliance"?

	30. What is "Kalanterism"?

	31. What is the "Bader-Ofer method"?

	32. What is the qualifying threshold?

	33. What is "The Revolution"?

	34. The Arrangements Law ("Hesderim") – what is it and when was it first ratified?

	35. What is a "filibuster"?

	36. In which years did Israel hold direct elections for the Prime Minister?

	37. What is a "rotation"? When was there "rotation" in the Knesset and in the Government?

	38. When was the first private member’s bill passed into a law?

Knesset members of the Likud vote by show
of hands at the first sitting of the
Ninth Knesset, June 13, 1977

Unusual Events

	39. What happened with a submachine gun in the Knesset?

	40. What was the "Zealots' Alliance"?

	41. When and why was the Knesset building under a physical attack?

	42. When was a hand-grenade tossed into the Knesset Plenum and who did it?

	43. Which Knesset Members were assassinated for political reasons?

MK Menachem Begin speaking at a protest
in Tel Aviv against the Appropriations
Agreement with Germany, February 25, 1952

Some Statistics

	44. Which Knesset had the longest tenure?

	45. Which Knesset had the shortest tenure?

	46. Who was the youngest Knesset Member?

	47. When was the first speech by a foreign head of state given in the Knesset Plenum?

	48. When was the first national unity government formed in Israel?

	49. When did a single parliamentary group hold the majority of seats in the Knesset?

	50. When was the electronic voting system implemented in the Knesset?

	51. When did the only no-confidence motion succeeded in overthrowing a government?

	52. How many women Knesset members officiated in the 1st Knesset? And how many in the 18th Knesset?

	53. Which Knesset had the smallest number of female Knesset members? Which Knesset had the most?

	54. How many women served in the Knesset since its establishment? And how many men?

	55. How many members of the 1st Knesset were born in the Land of Israel? How many members of the 18th Knesset were born in Israel? Which Knesset had the highest number of members who were born in Israel?

	56. Who is the only Knesset member who served for at least two non-consecutive terms as Knesset speaker?

President of Iceland, Asgeir Asgeirsson
addresses the Knesset Plenum, March 28, 1966

The Knesset Building at Givat Ram

	57. According to the original plan (from 1949) of the Government Complex at Sheikh Bader (Givat Ram), where was the Knesset supposed to be built?

	58. What was originally supposed to be built on the spot where the Knesset sits today?

	59. Who was the architect that won first place in the competition for the design of the Knesset building?

	60. What was located on the Knesset building site in previous times?

	61. When was the cornerstone of the Knesset building laid and when was the building inaugurated?

	62. For whom is the Palombo Gate named?

	63. On which street is the Knesset located?

	64. Who sculpted the seven-branched candelabra (Menorah) situated outside of the Knesset, and what does it symbolize?

Artist David Palombo sculpts the
gate at the entrance to the Knesset