Prime Minister of Israel Since 1974, the official residence of the prime minister is Beit Aghion, at the corner of Balfour and Smolenskin streets in Rehavia. As of March 2017, there are two living former Prime Ministers. The most recent Prime Minister to die was Shimon Peres (1977; 1984–1986; 1995–1996), who died on 28 September 2016. Benjamin Netanyahu, who served as Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999, is currently serving and is thus excluded from this list. Prime Minister of Israel The Prime Minister of Israel (, "Rosh HaMemshala", "lit." Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: ; , "Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma") is the head of
Prime Minister of Israel in power until 1992. Rabin became prime minister for the second time when he led Labour to victory in the 1992 elections. After his assassination on 4 November 1995, Peres took over as prime minister. During the thirteenth Knesset (1992–1996) it was decided to hold a separate ballot for prime minister modeled after American presidential elections. This system was instituted in part because the Israeli electoral system makes it all but impossible for one party to win a majority. While only two parties—Mapai/Labour and Likud—had ever led governments, the large number of parties or factions in a typical Knesset usually