The threshold for participation in national Knesset elections should not be 4%, but 16.5% of the vote, in preliminary primary elections. This will allow a maximum of 6 party lists in the general election 3 or 4 months later. It is a myth that there is representative "democracy" in Israel when tiny extremist parties with 2 or 3 mandates can control the entire nation by holding a coalition hostage with outrageous demands. This must end. So must the participation of anti-state parties that refuse to swear allegiance to the Jewish State of Israel, as defined in the 1948 Declaration of Independence. No Arab parties, no anti-state Haredi parties - not unless they swear an oath of loyalty to the State, just as the USA requires loyalty oaths of all government officials and the military. The US, no less of a democracy than Israel, had never had more than 3-4 parties in Congress over its 200 year history, never had a coalition government, and doesn't have the endless backmail of fringe parties that paralyses Israel and deprives the majority of their democratic rights. America has ultra-orthodox Jews, too, 600,000 of them. But they don't blackmail the government in any state, or extort taxpayer funds for their yeshivas, or refuse military service, and they work for a living, pay taxes, and are not allowed to receive welfare for life as "full-time Torah scholars" - PLUS...they don't spit on little girls, or they get their faces broken by the little girl's father and brothers. And are then arrested. This is how true democracy works. Israel can follow our example.

I don't like it when Americans who don't live here tell us how to live.

untold millions are on disability. essentially anyone who is fat and/or lazy seens to get on disability. i am amazed how many people sit around all day and dont work and live off the government. way worse than in israel.

Small extremist groups should not be allowed to effect what the majority wants. If a group can not convince a sufficient part of the population that their views are important , then they should just sit down and shut up.

Arabs are not a monolithic bloc and at least one so called Arab party (hadash) receives votes from outside the Arab community. Raising the threshold to 4% may or may not reduce Arab representation but it just may force the creation of a single Arab party likely dominated by religious elements. That party has the potential of upward of 15 seats but likely lost would be secular and moderate arab voices. Changes in voting laws (as seen in the 90's ) can have dysfunctional unintended consequences and I would not trust the judgement of an anti-democrat like Rotem or a Putanist like Liberman.

Raising the threshold might force the creation of a secular liberal party of Arabs and Jews - a party that can hold not only the balance of power but be an acceptable partner in a center left government. Should Meretz enter the party as a Zionist faction, representation can rival that of bayit yehudi and Shas. An interesting game changer not what Rotem and liberman are hoping for.

then you aren't a real political party and don't deserve seats. 4% would bring Israel closer to the majority of Western countries.

Oh and stop whining, that preventing every crank from forming his own party&"influencing" our society is somehow un-democratic or detrimental to our system.

Hadash is the only party supporting arabs rights and real peace.

It's a Jewish state isn't it. We all have the law of return, do we not. You have NO RIGHT to shut up the diaspora. If it wasn't for the diaspora, there would be no state of Israel. So many of us work hard over here to send money to you over there. So many of us over here are politically active getting you over there the international political help you need. You want to be an island? Be an Island and see how long you last in your hostile sea.

2% is nuts and causes far too many parties to be in coalitions. If Tibi and co. can't get 4% then they don't deserve to sit in the Knesset.

No, but they (Americans) are capable of walking into a school and gunning down 20+ students with an automatic weapon, because they have the RIGHT to carry guns, the wealthy (instead of ultra-orthodox) are able to "hide" their incomes instead of paying the income taxes they should be paying while sticking the "working poor" with the burden, and there is no lack of corruption in state, county and probably in the federal government too. So much for your democracy.

the self-assumed powers of the leftist Supreme Court. It is because of the Supreme Court that Zoabi and Tibi are still in the Knesset.

Not "muzzle" but get a hold of an extremely dysfunctional governmental system which you and other small party representatives take advantage of. If you want a specifically Arab-Israeli representation then meld with the two other Arab parties. If you wish to increase your representation in the Knesset, then start representing your own constituency better (Arab-Israelis) and not Arabs from the Westbank and Gaza who are not, after all, Israelis. Because you don't represent Arab-Israelis well, Arab votes during elections in Israel are in significant decline in spite of the immense amount of pseudo and false electors which you implement on the electorate. And many Arabs, disgusted with you and your kind, are now voting for non-Arab parties.

I object to your statement, #3, re Jews outside Israel having opinions and making statements regarding our nation. They are Jews and have the right to make "aliyah". They have an interest in Israel. We often depend on them for support, both material and especially for publicity purposes and foreign relations. As to Dr. Bernd, I often find his comments quite worthwhile and would advocate that he remains involved.

separate religion from state and outlaw all parties based on religion, language, place of origin, race, and ethnicity. These archaic labels only harm the States socio-economic well being. In France and the US you don't see parties based on race, religion, or language, the same should apply here!

What I’ve been hoping for, for more than 40 years. Over that time, I’ve seen government after government hijacked by minority parties with 2 or 3 seats dictating to the majority because they held the seats that could topple a government by leaving the coalition. Having a slate of over 30 parties at an election, with results of 12 or more parties winning seats, ranging from 2 to 31 seats in this last election is a recipe for disaster, or at least paralysis of long-range planning, forcing a PM to run from putting out one coalition “fire” to put out another. 4% is less than what I’d recommend (5% - that no party with less than 6 seats could enter the Knesset), but I’ll settle for 4%. I’d also put a lower limit on the number of ministers a government can appoint, and cut out the position of “Minister Without Portfolio” entirely. After all, if the US, which is so many times larger in size, with a population 40 times that if Israel can manage with 15 government ministers, how many do we really need? As for the rest, changing the requirements for no confidence or a president’s approval to disperse the Knesset, they’re not necessary if you change the threshold to 4%. The fact that it will be so hard for the smaller parties to pass that threshold will discourage at least half of the bills for a vote of no confidence. Change this bill to cover only the number of government ministers and the threshold for entering the Knesset, and see how drastically it will change the face of our government.

Whilst the arabs and the leftists are moaning about these proposals if they think about it they have potential to be the biggest winners from these changes if they just restructure a little Right now the arab parties combined average 10-11 seats each party getting an average of 3-4 so their voice is tiny. If those small arab parties united into a single one and that 1 party got 10 seats they would almost certainly be invited into Labor coalitions regularly. Shelly and Zehavia Gal-On should also not complain because under this system the voters for the small leftist fringe parties would find new homes with Labor & Meretz. Hadash has about 3 seats right now and Meretz would probably be the party they would be most comfortable if Hadash wasn't around and an extra 3 seats to a small party like Meretz can tip the scales between being in or out of the coalition. So the real winners here are the arabs and the left not Bibi & Liberman. One thing we should do is cut all state funding for political parties, how much TAXPAYER money could be saved if parties were forced to raise their own funds like they do in other countries?

over the arabs, and that is their own disunity, whether in the Knesset, fatah/hamas, Syria or the arab world in general. They speak of an "Arab League" but it is nothing more than a name. I really doubt if the arab parties could bring themselves together into one party, it would go against everything they believe in.