Quote of the Day

the initiative to lower the minimum threshold is a dangerous move that could lead to allowing extremist groups into the Knesset who only serve small groups and don't take into account the good of all Israeli citizens and the character of the State

  -- MK Yoav Ben-Tzur (Shas), upon Netanyahu's decision to shelve plans to lower the electoral threshold

1. is this the kettle calling the pot black? It is ok for Shas or UTJ or Habayit Hayehudi or Meretz or UAL to worry about limited groups of constituents and not the entire State and its character, but it is not ok for others to do so?
2. the threshold was 2% until recently. Extremist groups did not really make it in on a regular basis. The threshold was raised for other reasons, but there is no reason to assume lowering it back to the original level will open the door to extremist groups.
3. this seems undemocratic. Who is to say which group is too small, who worries about the character of the State and who worries about his own constituents or the general public?
4. There are reasons to keep it high, and in my opinion even raise it higher. And that is mostly stability of government and efficiency of governance. I think lowering it is bad, because it makes the government less stable. I don't think the reason to keep certain people out is a good enough reason. And if it is, maybe we should rethink which other parties we want in or out and raise it above those levels as well. Why does one party (Shas has been the only party vocal in opposition to this proposal) get to decide which other parties are worthy and which are not?

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------