Informal role, until 2000

Until 2000, the role of the Opposition Leader was not an official position, but rather an honorary role. The Leader of the Opposition was the leader of the largest party not in government. This was either Likud or Labor, with short exceptions during national unity governments of 1967–1970 and 1984–1990.

Even with the absence of a law defining the role of the Opposition Leader, it was customary for the Prime Minister to hold regular meetings with the leader of the largest opposition party. However, it was carried out only at the prerogative of the Prime Minister.

Formalised role, post-2000

In early 2000, two bills to amend the Opposition Leader's status were submitted to the Knesset, one by the government and one by MK Uzi Landau. The bills were merged into one amendment, and on 17 July 2000, the Knesset approved Amendment 8 to the "Knesset Law" of 1994, adding chapter 6 that outlined the role of the Leader of the Opposition.^[2] The law stipulates the selection of the Opposition Leader, the method of their replacement, regulates their ceremonial role in various official events, and obliges the prime minister to update them once a month. The law also stipulates that the Opposition Leader's salary will be determined by Knesset committee, and shall not be lower than a salary of a Cabinet minister.

Leaders of the largest opposition party

Name (Birth–Death)		Portrait	Party	Term start	Term end	Government(s) opposed	Prime minister(s) opposed	Knesset
1	Meir Ya'ari מאיר יערי‎ (1897–1987)		Mapam	10 March 1949	8 October 1951	1	David Ben-Gurion (Mapai)	1st
						2
2	Peretz Bernstein פרץ ברנשטיין‎ (1890–1971)		General Zionists	8 October 1951	24 December 1952	3		2nd
(1)	Meir Ya'ari מאיר יערי‎ (1897–1987)		Mapam	24 December 1952	29 June 1955	4
						5	Moshe Sharett (Mapai)
(2)	Peretz Bernstein פרץ ברנשטיין‎ (1890–1971)		General Zionists	29 June 1955	3 November 1955	6
3	Menachem Begin מנחם בגין‎ (1913–1992)		Herut	3 November 1955	5 June 1967	7	David Ben-Gurion (Mapai)	3rd
						8
						9		4th
						10		5th
						11	Levi Eshkol (Mapai 1963–1966; Mapai/Labor Alignment 1966–1967)
						12
			Gahal Herut			13		6th
4	Yitzhak-Meir Levin יצחק-מאיר לוין‎ (1893–1971)		Agudat Yisrael	5 June 1967	6 August 1970	14	Golda Meir (Labor/Alignment)
						15		7th
(3)	Menachem Begin מנחם בגין‎ (1913–1992)		Gahal Herut	6 August 1970	20 June 1977
			Likud Herut
						16		8th
						17	Yitzhak Rabin (Labor/Alignment)
5	Shimon Peres שמעון פרס‎ (1923–2016)		Alignment Labor Party	20 June 1977	13 September 1984	18	Menachem Begin (Herut/Likud	9th
						19		10th
						20	Yitzhak Shamir (Herut/Likud)
6	Yuval Ne'eman יובל נאמן‎ (1925–2006)		Tehiya-Tzomet Tehiya	13 September 1984	22 December 1988	21	Shimon Peres (Labor/Alignment)	11th
						22	Yitzhak Shamir (Herut/Likud 1986–1988; Likud 1988–1992
			Tehiya
7	Shulamit Aloni שולמית אלוני‎ (1928–2014)		Ratz	22 December 1988	15 March 1990	23		12th
(5)	Shimon Peres שמעון פרס‎ (1923–2016)		Alignment Labor Party	15 March 1990	February 1992	24
			Labor Party
8	Yitzhak Rabin יִצְחָק רַבִּין‎ (1922–1995)			February 1992	13 July 1992
9	Yitzhak Shamir יצחק שמיר‎ (1915–2012)		Likud	13 July 1992	24 March 1993	25	Yitzhak Rabin (Labor)	13th
10	Benjamin Netanyahu בנימין נתניהו‎ (born 1949)			24 March 1993	18 June 1996
						26	Shimon Peres (Labor)
			Likud-Gesher-Tzomet Likud
(5)	Shimon Peres שמעון פרס‎ (1923–2016)		Labor Party	18 June 1996	1 July 1997	27	Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud)	14th
11	Ehud Barak אהוד ברק‎ (born 1942)		Labor Party	1 July 1997	6 July 1999
			One Israel Labor Party
12	Ariel Sharon אריאל שרון‎ (1928–2014)		Likud	6 July 1999	30 July 2000	28	Ehud Barak (Labor)	15th

Designated Opposition Leaders

After Amendment 8 to the "Knesset law" of 1994 was passed, the Leader of the Opposition became the person elected by the largest faction of the opposition.

Name (Birth–Death)		Portrait	Party	Term start	Term end	Government(s) opposed	Prime minister(s) opposed	Knesset
12	Ariel Sharon אריאל שרון‎ (1928–2014)		Likud	31 July 2000	7 March 2001	28	Ehud Barak (Labor)	15th
13	Yossi Sarid יוסי שריד‎ (1940–2015)		Meretz	7 March 2001	4 November 2002	29	Ariel Sharon (Likud 2001–2005; Kadima 2005–2006)
14	Binyamin Ben-Eliezer בנימין בן אליעזר‎ (1936–2016)		Labor Party	4 November 2002	12 March 2003
						30		16th
15	Amram Mitzna עמרם מצנע‎ (born 1945)		Labor-Meimad Labor Party	12 March 2003	13 May 2003
16	Dalia Itzik דליה איציק‎ (born 1952)			13 May 2003	25 June 2003
(5)	Shimon Peres שמעון פרס‎ (1923–2016)			25 June 2003	10 January 2005
17	Yosef Lapid יוסף לפיד‎ (1931–2008)		Shinui	10 January 2005	23 November 2005
18	Amir Peretz עמיר פרץ‎ (born 1952)		Labor-Meimad Labor Party	23 November 2005	16 January 2006
(10)	Benjamin Netanyahu בנימין נתניהו‎ (born 1949)		Likud	16 January 2006	17 April 2006
				17 April 2006	31 March 2009	31	Ehud Olmert (Kadima)	17th
19	Tzipi Livni ציפי לבני‎ (born 1958)		Kadima	6 April 2009	2 April 2012	32	Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud)	18th
20	Shaul Mofaz שאול מופז‎ (born 1948)		Kadima	2 April 2012	9 May 2012
21	Shelly Yachimovich שלי יחימוביץ׳‎ (born 1960)		Labor Party	9 May 2012	23 July 2012
(20)	Shaul Mofaz שאול מופז‎ (born 1948)		Kadima	23 July 2012	5 February 2013
(21)	Shelly Yachimovich שלי יחימוביץ׳‎ (born 1960)		Labor Party	5 February 2013	25 November 2013
						33		19th
22	Isaac Herzog יצחק הרצוג‎ (1960–)			25 November 2013	14 May 2015
			Zionist Union Labor Party
				14 May 2015	31 July 2018	34		20th
(19)	Tzipi Livni ציפי לבני‎ (born 1958)		Zionist Union Hatnuah	1 August 2018	1 January 2019
(21)	Shelly Yachimovich שלי יחימוביץ׳‎ (born 1960)		Labor Party	1 January 2019	30 April 2019
								21st 22nd
	Vacant de jure, Benny Gantz de facto			30 April 2019	17 May 2020
23	Yair Lapid יאיר לפיד‎ (born 1963)		Yesh Atid	17 May 2020	6 April 2021	35		23rd
(10)	Benjamin Netanyahu בנימין נתניהו‎ (born 1949)		Likud	28 June 2021	29 December 2022	36	Naftali Bennett (Yamina/New Right) Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid)	24th
(23)	Yair Lapid יאיר לפיד‎ (born 1963)		Yesh Atid	2 January 2023	Present	37	Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud)	25th