The first Knesset was formed following the elections in 1949, replacing the Provisional State Council which had served Israel since it gained independence on May 14, 1948. The current Knesset (elected in 2015) is Israel's Twentieth Knesset. The modern Knesset complex, located in western Jerusalem in Givat Ram, was gifted to Israel by James de Rothschild in his will. The main building was constructed in 1966 on land leased from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. There have been twelve people who served as prime ministers of Israel since its founding in 1948. 1. David Ben-Gurion 2. Moshe Sharett 1. David Ben-Gurion 3. Levi Eshkol Yigal Allon (acting) 4. Golda Meir 5. Yitzhak Rabin 6. Menachem Begin 7. Yitzhak Shamir 8. Shimon Peres 7. Yitzhak Shamir 5. Yitzhak Rabin 8. Shimon Peres 9. Benjamin Netanyahu 10.Ehud Barak 11. Ariel Sharon 12. Ehud Olmert 9. Benjamin Netanyahu
