Who are the leaders of Israel?
Israel is a democratic state with free elections and open dissent. The diversity of political opinion in Israel is sometimes a hinderance to the government and has even interferred with the defense of the country. Under the Israeli system, a parliment of ministers is elected (the Knesset) and a Prime Minister is chosen as the principal political leader, usually in a coalition government. Since the founding of Israel in 1948 there have been these Prime Ministers:
- David Ben-Gurion (1948-54, 55-63)
- Moshe Sharett (1954-55)
- Levi Eshkol (1963-74)
- Golda Meir (1969-74)
- Yitzhak Rabin (1974-77, 92-95)
- Menachem Begin (1977-83)
- Yitzhak Shamir (1983-84, 86-92)
- Shimon Peres (1984-86, 95-96)
- Benjamin Netanyahu (1996-99)
- Ehud Barak (1999-2001)
- Ariel Sharon (2001- 2006)
- Ehud Olmert (2006-2009)
- Benjamin Netanyahu (2009-date)