How ordinary Israelis view the election

LARA DOEL

Tuvia Book, a Jewish educator and tour guide who splits his time between Israel and the US, asserted: “The people voted for their lives and not quality of life. Many Israeli’s still fear the existential threat posed by Iran.

“Iran continues to deny the Holocaust and runs cartoon competitions that specifically evoke the memory of the Holocaust and its evil perpetrators, as well as funding and arming terrorists in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.”

He added: “Some even blame Israel for the recent violent killings of Jews in Europe rather than the jihadists who perpetrate them. This is what is on the minds of a large part of Israel’s population. Despite the extremely anti-Netanyahu Israeli press attention and the clear preference of the US administration and the EU for a centre-left government, the Israeli public has spoken, saying: ‘Better what we know (even though it’s not perfect) than what we don’t in these trying times’.”

Policy consultant, and chairman of Women in International Security Israel, Lea Landman, said: “A major component of Israel’s national security is its alliance with the US, and in a global world, alliances in general. Despite official reactions and its media coverage, the US and Europe remain very strong economic and political allies.

“To those, Israel’s flourishing relations with Modi’s India, and less outspoken ties with Arab countries, including Egypt’s el-Sissi, suggest that the Palestinian issue is mainly close to the left-wing voters and Western countries.

“The Arab states have their own internal and external problems and threats, and their concern for the Palestinian is mainly rhetorical, although in the region, perception should not be underestimated.

“However, in an unstable Middle-East, to say the least, Israel cannot remain inactive and reactive. Netanyahu will have to actively define Israel’s international strategy for the next years, or it will find itself reacting to events rather than leading them.”

Avi Ifergan, originally of Australia, and father of four from Rehovot, said: “The 2015 Israeli elections were fascinating: a modern Middle Eastern Game of Thrones, with the necessary scoops of drama, intrigue, subterfuge, suspense and surprise.”

Looking at the elections overall, Ifergan said: “The clear winne, despite numerous obstacles in its path, was the democratic process itself. Voter turnout, which was just shy of 72 per cent, was the highest since the 1999 elections.”

He noted that for the most part, the lead-up to the elections was fraught with anti-Bejnamin Netanyahu propaganda – in most cases, targeting him as a person.

“The messaging of “Just Not Bibi” or “Thanks and Goodbye Bibi” transformed the elections as a competition, not between parties, but against a single individual.”

One of Ifergan’s main concerns was rumours that professional opinion polls in the weeks leading up to the elections were “doctored” with numbers inflated to the benefit of Isaac Herzog’s Zionist Union.

In a blog post entitled “So Who Won?” on The Times of Israel website, Advocate Michal Cotler-Wunsh of Raanana, mother of four and director of International External Relations at the Interdisciplinary Centre (IDC) Herzliya set a positive tone, stating: “For the first time since the founding of the State, it is quite possible that Israel is advancing towards internationally accepted differentiation between left and right – defined by differences in approaches and views on economic agendas.

“It is a possible and real sign of maturation to think that economics and not foreign affairs define the political split… In Israel, a true democracy – the people of this country focused on their every-day life in casting their ballots at the polls.”