Israel’s 26th Knesset will be sworn in Tuesday afternoon with one of the largest turnovers in recent memory. Of the 120 lawmakers elected last month, 59 did not serve in the outgoing Knesset, and 46 of them are entering parliament for the first time. That is double the 23 newcomers sworn in with the previous Knesset.
The incoming lawmakers held an orientation day at the Knesset on Monday. They posed for the official photos that will appear on their Knesset ID cards and profiles, then gathered in the auditorium, where outgoing Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana welcomed them. Knesset Secretary Dan Marzouk later briefed them in the plenum, and the new members took turns practicing on the voting system from their assigned seats.
The new Knesset will also include 33 women, the highest number in Israel’s history. The youngest member is Yonatan Shalev of Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad party, born in 2002. The oldest is Likud’s Chaim Katz, born in 1947. Several of the incoming lawmakers lost family members on October 7 or in the war that followed.
Tuesday’s ceremony begins at 4 p.m. in the presence of President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Speaker Ohana. Each of the 120 MKs will be called by name to pledge allegiance to the State of Israel.
The new Knesset convenes without a government in place. Herzog has given Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot the mandate to form a coalition. Eisenkot’s bloc has agreed on Matan Kahana as its candidate for Knesset speaker and has sought to replace Ohana right after the swearing-in. United Torah Judaism chairman Yaakov Asher said his party would not support replacing Ohana before a new government is formed. Several right-wing groups, including Im Tirtzu, announced plans to protest outside the Knesset during the ceremony.
