Shas chairman Minister Aryeh Deri is not only determined to veto plans by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to lower the minimum threshold required to enter Knesset, he wishes to raise the minimum from its current four seats.
Deri made his comments during a Thursday morning interview on Galei Tzahal (Army Radio), pointing out some of his coalition colleagues including Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, Education Minister Naftali Bennet, and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, heads of the Kulanu, Bayit Yehudi and Yisrael Beitenu parties respectfully, are opposed as well. “I told him to worry about the Likud and I will worry about Shas”, Deri stated, in reference to a conversation with PM Netanyahu. He added that he is not concerned, despite the fact some polls show his party fails to earn the minimum four seats.
Deri added he is quite impressed with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s concerns that Shas will not reach the minim four seats required, but Deri would like to see the minimum increased. While he did not spell it out, it is clear this is aimed at keeping rival Eli Yishai and his Yachad party out of Knesset. Regarding Yachad, some polls show he etches by with four seats while others show the party does not make it into the next Knesset. Deri wishes to make sure of that be increasing the minimum number of seats required to get into Knesset. He warns that if there are smaller parties with 2-3 seats it will result in an impossible situation.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
He is correct, though he is just scared of Yishai
Classic example of cutting off your nose to spite your face
This is where hatred leads you. He’s willing to commit political suicide all to prevent Eli Yishai from getting into the Knesset; even if that means that he won’t be in the Knesset either.
It should be noted that the rest of the chareidi parties strongly support lowering the minimum amount of seats, and if possible to eliminate it entirely. We can’t forget that we are still a minority and our place in the Knesset is not guaranteed.
This article repeats several times that 4 seats is the minimum size of a party in the Knesset.
This is not true. The minimum threshold is not based on seats, it’s based on percentages. The threshold is at 3.25%, which means that a party that gets between 3.25% and 3.33% of the vote can end up in the Knesset with only three seats.