Israel government could fiddle election rules to keep far-right in power

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering changing election rules to ensure his far-right allies are voted in, something crucial to keeping his government in power for another term, according to reports.

Netanyahu is particularly concerned that his far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism party will fail to cross the electoral threshold, meaning that the prime minister would struggle to build a coalition.

Currently, Israeli parties need at least 3.25 percent of the vote to win seats for the Knesset, but Smotrich's party is currently trailing this mark by a margin.

Previously, the mark was 1.5 percent and changed in 2014, although there is no indication of what the new threshold could be.

The Israeli government is considering changing the electoral threshold to ensure that Netanyahu can form a new government with his far-right allies after the next election, likely next year, but he will need more allies in the Knesset for this to happen.

Netanyahu's current coalition bloc would only win 51 seats in the next election - nine short of forming a government - despite the prime minister's Likud Party likely to be the biggest party following a post-Gaza war bounce.

His opponents, led by Naftali Bennett's party, Bennett 2026, would be only one seat short of the 60 needed to win power.

MK Simcha Rothman, chair of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, has held talks with other parties to see if the electoral laws can be changed.

One opponent to the plans is Netanyahu's religious right ally Shas, who would like to mop up the votes of Religious Zionism and other parties with the government in talks to win Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's approval, according to Channel 12.

Likud's support has plummeted since the start of the Gaza war, with the recent truce with Hamas and release of Israeli captives has seen Netanyahu win some plaudits in Israel.

Smotrich's popularity has sunk during the war, particularly with a focus on settlements in the West and his religious contingent, along with the country's economic problems.