United Torah Judaism faction leader Rabbi Moshe Gafni has proposed a bill to drop the Knesset’s electoral threshold to two percent, from its current 3.25 percent.
The measure was co-signed by three other members of his party, Degel HaTorah.
If the bill passes, UTJ will be able to divide itself, enabling its two religious Ashkenazi parties, Degel HaTorah and Agudath Israel, to run for the Knesset separately. Degel HaTorah represents Lithuanian Jewry and Agudath Israel represents Hassidic Jewry.
At present, a party needs to be able to win four seats in order to enter the Knesset. But if the bill passes, then each party will be able to send a minimum of only two MKs to the Israeli parliament.
UTJ currently holds seven seats in the Knesset.
Because of the electoral threshold law, however, the two parties split their Knesset seats. Last year the UTJ leadership rotated to Gafni after 18 years of leadership by the now-retired MK Yaakov Litzman.
