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Israel’s 20th Knesset will be sworn in today, in a festive ceremony led by President Reuven Rivlin and the most veteran Knesset member, Zionist Union’s Amir Peretz. All members will be required to swear: “I pledge myself to bear allegiance to the State of Israel and faithfully to discharge my mandate in the Knesset.” After that the Knesset members will elect a speaker for the chamber.

The 20th Knesset includes 39 new members and has a record number of women MKs – some 28 out of 120. The number of Arab MKs also increases in the new Knesset to 17, including 13 in the Joint Arab List, and the remainder included in the lists of other parties.  The number of orthodox religious MKs has fallen, with the national religious Jewish Home party and ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism returning with diminished lists.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s attempts to build a governing coalition with a 61 seat majority continue. His negotiating team has reportedly offered to ultra-Orthodox parties to increase child-allowances, remove VAT on some foods, and cancel funding cuts to the religious education streams. However, prospective finance minister Moshe Kahlon is demanding that spending commitments be cleared with him, and continues to demand control of the Israel Lands Authority, seen as crucial to efforts to reduce housing costs. Meanwhile, high tensions remain between Likud and Naftali Bennett’s Jewish Home faction, with Bennett frustrated that Likud negotiators were not responding to his demands to become defence minister. The deadline for forming a government is 6 May.