Knesset plenum
Knesset plenumKnesset Spokesperson

The 21st Knesset will officially begin operating on Tuesday, and the 120 Knesset members will be sworn in at a festive ceremony in the plenum. For 49 of them, this is the first time that they will be sworn in as MKs.

Hundreds of Knesset employees have been preparing for the festive day and were busy preparing the building for a spectacular reception, the likes of which has not yet been seen.

Members of the Knesset, both old and new, will arrive at the Knesset accompanied by their families starting at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. As they enter the building, they will march on a red carpet. They will be handed an official Knesset member's certificate from the Central Elections Committee and a flower will be pinned to their lapel.

They will then be photographed with the certificate, and then an official photograph will be taken that will accompany them during their tenure in official Knesset publications. Afterwards, Knesset members and their families will be invited to a gathering and for refreshments at the Chagall lounge.

On their way to the lounge, the guests will view the pictures of an exhibition entitled "70 years of the Knesset," which is also located at Ben Gurion Airport and which surveys the historical events that took place in the Knesset. The exhibition was placed at the Knesset specifically in honor of the swearing-in ceremony.At 3:00 p.m., a reception will begin in the presence of all members of the Knesset and their families. For the first time in the history of the Knesset, the honor guard of the Knesset Guard will receive President Reuven Rivlin.

An hour later, at 4:00 p.m., Rivlin will open the special Knesset gathering, will invite Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to declare his allegiance and then transfer the chairmanship of the meeting to him.

Edelstein will read to the members of the Knesset the text of the declaration of allegiance, and each of them will rise one by one and say: “I obligate myself”. The Knesset members will then vote for the identity of the next Knesset Speaker, most likely Edelstein again.

From there they will all go to the Chagall lounge, where a toast will be held with the participation of Knesset members and heads of state, during which the traditional photograph of the heads of the elected lists will take place. With that, the day of the establishment of the 21st Knesset will come to an end.

Knesset Speaker Edelstein said that "at the swearing-in ceremony, we promise the citizens who sent us to the Knesset that we will work and serve as an example for them and for their children, that they look at us, the Knesset members, proudly and not with shame. We will not be the voice that shouts at his friend, but rather the voice of those who are not heard."