Tel Aviv, March 12 (RHC)-- Israel has passed a new electoral law that elevates the threshold of votes that political parties require in elections to gain seats in the country's parliament, known as the Knesset.

Based on the law, which passed 67-0 on Tuesday, a party would need to take at least 3.25 percent of the vote, up from two percent, to win a seat in parliament.

It was introduced by members of the Yesh Atid party and Yisrael Beitenu faction, which are part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition.

However, the vote was boycotted by the opposition as critics say that the law would make it more difficult for small parties, including groups representing minority Arabs, to enter the Knesset.

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog of the Labour Party told a protest session of opposition lawmakers that the Israeli government “is taking steps of hatred and exclusion and trying to push certain parties to the sidelines.”

Israel's 120 Knesset seats are currently divided among 12 factions.