Israel’s upcoming elections are poised to be dramatically influenced by smaller parties struggling to surpass the 3.25 percent voting threshold (AP)
Israel’s election could turn on a political paradox with parties that fail to win a single seat could determine who forms the next government.
Israel follows a nationwide proportional representation system in which voters elect party lists to the 120-member Knesset, the country’s parliament. A party leader must assemble a coalition commanding the support of at least 61 lawmakers to form a government. Under Israel’s election rules, a party must win at least 3.25 per cent of the vote to enter parliament. The 2022 election offers an example with the Left-wing Meretz and Arab-led Balad failed to cross the threshold and won no seats. Netanyahu’s bloc secured 64 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, giving him a parliamentary majority and allowing him to return as prime minister.
With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s bloc and the opposition short of a projected parliamentary majority, smaller parties hovering around the minimum vote threshold could decide the balance of power, according to an analysis by The Times of Israel. The prime minister is not directly elected. Small parties could decide whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or the opposition gets enough seats to form the next government. If it falls short, it gets no seats, and the votes cast for it do not count towards seat allocation. This can hurt the larger political bloc that the party could have supported.