The Knesset on Tuesday morning passed all the components of the Governance Bill as expected. The electronic voting board showed 67 in favor with no opponents or abstentions as the 52 member opposition continues its boycott of the plenum.
The new law increases the minimum threshold to enter Knesset to 3.5%, which translates to four seats. In addition, it limits the size of future cabinets to 19 ministers including the prime minister and a maximum of four deputy ministers.
In his angry address to the plenum following the vote, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was more than a bit critical of the opposition for deciding to boycott the plenum session. He labeled the 52 MKs a coalition of “crybabies, post-Zionists, chareidim and representatives of terrorist organizations”. Referring to opposition leader MK (Labor) Yitzchak Herzog he added “Every time I heard Herzog, came to me to look for a handkerchief and cry and wipe away the tears. Hypocrisy cries out to heaven,”
“Overall we are a low threshold of what is acceptable in the civilized world”, he added.
Lieberman cited the opposition’s “hypocrisy” as a number of opposition members favored increasing the minimum threshold to enter Knesset as well.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
It isn’t all that earth shaking. Most other countries using proportional representation have higher thresholds (typically five percent – in Israel that would mean a minimum of six seats), and of course in the USA, a party able to gain only five percent of the vote would be considered a fringe group with no role to play other than as a spoiler in close elections (e.g. the Green Party’s Ralph Nader in the 2000 presidential elections). At worst it will force marginal parties to form alliances. The only impact for hareidim is that Degel ha-Torah and Agudah are coerced to run as a joint list since neither would qualify otherwise, but they are inclined to do so anyways. The rest of the law is easy to work around should they be so inclined.
Just see the words he uses to insult his opponents. Cry-babies, post-Zionists, Hareidim, and representatives of terrorists.
One insult after another.
All together, one package, all the same.
Apukerma: good, solid analysis. I must be be living in a dream! apukerma and I actually agree on something!
The boycott by 43% of the Knesset is a failure of leadership of the PM and this government. The coalition deserves the embarrassment and is seriously wounded. Lieberman’s angry speech and name calling only strengthen the resentment by the public to their undemocratic and dictatorial tactics.