PM ponders lowering electoral threshold

Internal polling shows Shas, Yisrael Beytenu in danger of not reaching current 3.25% threshold

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering whether to lower the electoral threshold, his office confirmed on Sunday night.

Three-and-a-half years ago, the Knesset raised the electoral threshold from 2% to 3.25%, as part of a Yesh Atid-pushed legislative package meant to stabilize governments. The increase pushed Arab parties to form the Joint List and nearly left Meretz outside of the Knesset.

Channel 2 reported that Netanyahu is thinking of bringing the threshold back to 2%, but his spokesmen said the prime minister hasn’t decided on a number.

In addition, Netanyahu has yet to discuss the idea with his coalition partners. A source close to Netanyahu said the idea came after the prime minister saw polls indicating that Shas and Yisrael Beytenu may not pass the threshold.

Lowering the electoral threshold will “reinforce the right-wing bloc,” he said.

Some of those partners are likely to rally behind the proposal because a source close to Netanyahu said the idea came after the prime minister saw polls indicating that Shas and Yisrael Beytenu may not pass the threshold.

The source said lowering the electoral threshold will “reinforce the right-wing bloc.

Shas leader Arye Deri, however, told a close associate that “Netanyahu stabbed us in the back… Shas will grow stronger in the next election and doesn’t need any favors from Netanyahu. “Netanyahu

gets Shas’s support, and in response he is initiating moves against Shas without consulting with us… Lowering the electoral threshold will not pass – don’t even try it,” Deri warned.

Deri’s ire may have been raised due to the possibility that the move would also strengthen the Yachad party, led by former Shas chairman Eli Yishai with radical Hebron activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir, which came close to the electoral threshold in the last election. Marzel and BenGvir are associated with Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose party was outlawed from running in the Knesset in 1988 because it had a racist platform.

The source close to Netanyahu also expressed hope lowering the threshold would lead to the Joint List’s dismantlement.

The Joint List, which consists of Hadash, a communist party, the United Arab List, affiliated with the Islamic Movement’s southern branch, Balad, an Arab nationalist party, and MK Ahmed Tibi’s Arab Movement for Change, has been plagued with infighting since its inception.

Also on Sunday, Joint List MK Ibrahim Hijazi resigned from the Knesset. Hijazi was technically an MK for a month, but the Knesset was in recess the entire time. In recent months, the Joint List has been embroiled in disputes over a rotation agreement for the various on the list. Next in line is Youssef Atawna of Hadash. •