The alternate prime minister of Israel (Hebrew: ראש הממשלה החליפי, romanized: Rosh ha-memshela ha-ḥalifi)[note 1] is the de facto deputy of the prime minister of Israel and the second highest ranking cabinet minister, who is designated to replace the prime minister of Israel in a rotation government. The position was created de jure to resolve the 2018–2022 Israeli political crisis, alongside the formal rotation mechanism of the alternation government. It existed de facto in the 1984–88 rotation government, which was established on the basis of a non-binding rotation agreement.[3] According to the Basic Law: The Government, the government swearing-in includes a target date for the prime minister and alternate prime minister to switch their posts.[1] Government ministers report either to the prime minister or the alternate prime minister, with the prime minister being unable to dismiss cabinet ministers reporting to the alternate prime minister without the alternate prime minister's consent.[4]
The most recent alternate prime minister was Naftali Bennett, who served from 1 July to 8 November 2022.
Shamir was prime minister-designate in a rotation government with Shimon Peres. The rotation deal was not binding as no legally-entrenched rotation mechanism existed at the time, and the de jure post held by Shamir was that of an ordinary designated acting prime minister.
Shamir became prime minister on 20 October 1986, with Peres as his alternate, in accordance with the 1984 rotation deal. The rotation deal was not legally binding as no legally-entrenched rotation mechanism existed at the time, and the de jure post held by Peres was that of an ordinary designated acting prime minister.
Gantz was prime minister-designate in an alternation government with Benjamin Netanyahu, and he would have come into office on 17 November 2021. In December 2020, the coalition collapsed, and was replaced by a new government on 13 June 2021.
Lapid was prime minister-designate in an alternation government with Naftali Bennett. According to the law, the switch was supposed to have taken place on 27 August 2023, which would have been the half-term of the 36th government. The law also stipulated that if the sitting prime minister were to dissolve the Knesset prior to the date of the switch, the switch would take place immediately upon the dissolution. Since Bennett dissolved the Knesset on 30 June 2022, Lapid took over as prime minister on the following day.
Bennett became Alternate Prime Minister after the early dissolution of the Knesset in June 2022, switching places with Yair Lapid. He resigned on 8 November 2022.
^While the Basic Law passed on 7 May 2020 used the phrasing "חלופי",[1] the Academy of the Hebrew Language published on 11 May an article explaining that the proper Hebrew phrasing is "חליפי"[2]
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