Israel court rejects appeals against rise in electoral threshold

Israel's Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected appeals against a government law which raised the electoral threshold to 3.25 percent of the votes, threatening the survival of smaller parties in the parliament.

An extended panel of nine judges ruled 8-1 against the appeals, brought about by two ultra-Orthodox lawyers, together with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Adalah, the legal center for Arab minority rights, according to the Court Authority spokesperson.

Supreme Court Justice Salim Jubran, who is Arab, was the one who voted in favor of the petition. The judges added that they do not rule out another deliberation on the issue in the future, before the next elections would take place, after viewing the outcomes of the upcoming March 17 elections.

Seats in the 120-member Israeli Knesset (parliament) are apportioned nationally, according to the percent of the total votes each party gets. Before the law was approved in March, the electoral threshold stood at two percent of the overall votes.

The controversial Governance Law, which includes the raising of the threshold was the initiative of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who claimed the solidifying the power of big parties will contribute to the ability to govern the state.

It also includes other controversial clauses, necessitating a special majority for the opposition to pass bills and overthrow a ruling government.

Human rights advocates and politicians from the opposition, who banned the vote on the law and didn't attend it, said the law is aimed at kicking out the political minorities, especially the Arab parties.

Last year, in light of the new law, the Adalah Legal Center published a document stating the risk for the survival of the Arab parties due to the high threshold.

"The minimum threshold for seats in the Knesset will make it more difficult for minority political voices, including those of Israel's Arab community, to be represented in the Knesset," the center said.

"Such a change is likely to put pressure on Arab political parties to merge, in order to raise their chances of reaching the new electoral threshold. This pressure will blur the important ideological differences between them, leaving Arab voters with few alternatives," it said.

It added that Arab politicians are viewed as illegitimate in the eyes of the right-wing parties and their voters. Arabs constitute 20 percent of the population in Israel.

The Arab parties are Ra'am, Ta'al, Balad and Hadash, which is a mixed Arab and Jewish party. There are very few Arab politicians in the major Israeli parties. The parties will meet next week to assess their moves following the rejection of the petitions.

The electoral threshold also threatens the political the future of ultra-Orthodox politician Eli Yishai, who withdrew from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party and started one of his own, which is struggling in polls to pass the needed threshold. Endit