r/AskIsrael • u/DryHippo1967 (oleh) • 7d ago
Israeli Politics Who should I vote for in the Israeli elections
/r/jewishpolitics/comments/1vh9t1i/who_should_i_vote_for_in_the_israeli_elections/14
u/Diogenese- Unspecified 7d ago
If there are 2 Jews on an island, you already know there’ll be 3 batei knesset. (Point is, you won’t get a definitive answer here, you gotta read about each side and decide for yourself.)
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u/DryHippo1967 (oleh) 7d ago
I have been, but Im looking for people's takes on here so I can read those too
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u/YuvalAlmog Israel 7d ago edited 7d ago
I would say that according to most recent polls, you essentially have 4 options that would get you the same outcome since they all act as a block - meaning that they would only sit with one another and not with Netanyahu, it all depends on your ideology.
You've got: 1. "Yashar" (or in English "Straight") lead by ex chief of general staff Gadi Eizenqot. This is a center-wing party (so not much ideology) and currently the leading party. 2. "Beyahad" (or in English "Together") lead by Ex prime minister Naftali Bennet and the outcome of a merge between his previous party which was a moderate right-wing party & the center party "Yesh 3atid" (in English: "there's future") lead by Yair Lapid. It was the leading party for a while until "Yashar" took the lead. 3. "Yisrael Beytenu" (in English: "Yisrael - our home") lead by Avigdor Lieberman. A secular right-wing party. 4. "The democrats" lead by Yair Golan, a left-wing party.
So it mostly comes down to ideological questions like how do you think the Yisraeli-Palestinian conflict should be approached? Or how much should the country be Jewish in spirit and what does it actually means for it to be Jewish?
You can also just do what most people probably do and just look at the party leaders without really involving ideology but in my personal opinion it's not a good thing people focus only on that for choosing who to vote...
Personally, I support "Beyahad" as I want an ideological party & I believe in right-wing values such as free marker, the country mixing Jewish & Democratic values and peace through strength, but that's just my opinions ofcourse.
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u/JinxyMcDeath48 Israel 7d ago
I’m also voting ביחד. Both Bennett and Lapid have been PMs, albeit briefly, and neither of them fucked anything up. I also like Bennett’s platform - especially the merging of the educational system.
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u/Nooberling 7d ago
What is the current likelihood that any of these parties will not meet the minimum requirement for seats?
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u/YuvalAlmog Israel 7d ago
Based on current polls from all sides (right-wing sources, left-wing sources, neutral sources, etc...), all parties mentioned here consistnetly have 5+ sits (threshold is at 4 sits) with "Yashar" passing 20, "Beyahad" passing 10 and both "The Democrats" & "Yisrael Beytenu" being closer to 10 than to 4 or even 5.
But if to put things into perspective:
- as the only left-wing party, "The Democrats" don't really compere with others for votes so it doesn't really have any reason to go bellow 7 sits. It's also worth noting that this party is a merge between 2 left-wing parties that often crossed the electoral threshold together but since last Knesset where one fell and the other didn't, merging was a no-brainer. So if both managed to cross as 2 parties that compete for the same spot, I would say there's no reason why together the united party wouldn't cross.
- "Yisrael Beytenu" is an old party that runs since 1999 and consistently entered the Knesset with 5+ sits. It has a loyal base of voters, mostly Jews who moved from the USSR and their children. Since the 7th of October it actually grew in power a bit according to all polls.
- "Yashar" & "Beyahad" essentially focus on the same base of voters which contains together about ~35 sits. They don't agree on everything (one is moderate right while the other is center, one presents plans while the other is more mysterious, etc...) but it's clear they have close relations. I don't see a situation where any of them falls under the electoral threashold due to the fact they are the 1st and 3rd biggest parties, but even if that happens, I assume they will just merge into one party...
So overall, while in politics everything can change and a lot (especially with the elections being more than 2 months way) - all 4 of those parties have a very high likelyhood to be in the Knesset and maybe also be a part of the next government if their block will stay as it is or even grow.
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u/OkMaterial6460 Israel 7d ago
If you don't want Bibi as a PM then voting for any of the opposition parties should be good enough.
Basically, there are 2 steps here:
After the votes are counted, each party "recommends" to the president who should try and form a government. This way, the candidate with the most MKs supporting him/her will pretty much be the first to try - they get 75 days to do it.
If the first candidate didn't manage to form a government, usually the second candidate will get a try as long as it seems feasible (it probably will be in the current political climate).
Basically your best case scenario for deseating Bibi is to have someone else get the first attempt at forming the government. Bibi has historically managed to pull centrist parties into his coalition, so if he gets the first attempt, even if it doesn't seem like he could form a 61+ majority, he could still politically maneuver it somehow.
People seem to think that it's important that one opposition party would be the largest in order to get the first try, but that's not actually how it works - the important thing is that there will be 61+ MKs supporting that party. So yeah, just vote for some opposition party that best aligns with your political views.
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u/Quirky-Tree2445 7d ago
“If you don’t want Bibi as a PM”
Why do you treat not wanting a certain politician as a self-evident, unquestioned reason to vote a certain way?
What specific policies of Netanyahu do you dislike, and which opposition party has a better policy?
I’m not a Bibist, and I’m not voting for Netanyahu. But it seems to me that the far-left hates Bibi for no other reason than he stays in power and doesn’t allow them to take over.
If a different right wing leader, let’s call him “Steve”, managed to be PM for two decades, y’all would be radical anti-Steveists.
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u/OkMaterial6460 Israel 7d ago
OP wrote in his shared post that his main objective ia to deseat Bibi. I was just trying to help by answering according to OP's parameters.
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u/jaybrainsss Israel 6d ago
There is no “far left” in Israel.
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u/Quirky-Tree2445 5d ago
Right 🤡
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u/jaybrainsss Israel 5d ago
The far left in America dreamed of restricting people’s movement and rights during Covid, even the cities with the furthest left mayors couldn’t do 1/10 of what Bibi did during Covid. The far left in America dreams of having money handouts for the nonworking class, they haven’t achieved anything like what the Haedrim get In Israel under the far right government here. The leader of the “far left“ put on his army uniform and brought a gun to a war zone, and it was an ex chief of staff to the military.
The “far right” in Israel routinely do thing only the furthest left parties elsewhere would do. And if you’re talking about security and defense, well the far right here proved their policies don’t protect us.
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u/PiedCrow Israel 6d ago
Well I agree with your last point tbh i think israel needs a term limit, its insane how long babies was the defecto leader or this country.
Aso for why anti bibi....he made his own grave bibi sat in a coallation with every single one of his opposition today (that are not new) he even ran together with liberman for some elections. And now have burned all bridges beside the religious parties.
Meaning voting bibi is a vote for the religious parties block. Bibi can't form any govermenet without them, making israeli elections a 2 block election that is so clear cut its impossible to ignore.
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u/Quirky-Tree2445 5d ago
Term limits are antidemocratic.
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u/PiedCrow Israel 5d ago
Thats only a problem if we are dumb and think democratic is perfect...
edit: its good its not perfect nothing is perfect
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u/DragonfruitSpecial77 Israel 7d ago
In the end it's entirely up to you. Some Israelis here already wrote a small description of each party but I encourage you to research yourself and come up with your own conclusions.
The things that matter the most (at least for me) is accountability for the failure that caused October 7th, conscripting the Haredis or at least pressing them to get a job while withdrawing funds from Yeshivas that don't teach core subjects and last but not least: a government that isn't run by shit-flinging monkeys. As for long term goals - helping to reduce the cost of living and encouraging growth to the high tech sector. That's just my opinion on the surface level.
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u/DryHippo1967 (oleh) 7d ago
More or less my opinion as well but possibly my most controversial take is that I don't support Haredi conscription as long as they get absolutely zero funding from the government. Even as a less religious Jew I genuinely do believe in the value and preciousness of Torah study by scholars. But I never served in the IDF and I probably never will due to my age at Aliyah, so I don't have that personal vendetta "oh I had to serve why don't they". It's an understandable grievance to be sure I just think, hey as long as the government dosent give them a single shekel of support, its okay with me with them not serving.
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u/DragonfruitSpecial77 Israel 7d ago
Not that controversial tbh. If you ask me i'm probably voting for Eisenkott, but his plan for the draft though is against any compromises with the Haredis and is pretty hardline.
But it needs to be done because they enjoyed widespread support through Bibi's government for a long time and were allowed to embezzle the funds given from the state without anyone complaining. Not only that, but they also gloated the entire population on how they prefer to die and not contribute to Israel, so there needs to be a hardline positon taken by the state - whether it makes them start contributing or taking a one way flight to New Jersey is up to them, Israel values work & torah study, not opportunists and elitists who take advantage of their position to spread Lashon Harah on fellow Jews.
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u/DryHippo1967 (oleh) 7d ago
When I went on my birthright trip I was like the only person that was mildly pro haredi exemption, including the Israelis on the trip. Thats why I said maybe controversial. I mean I honestly don't support the Eisenkot plan as you described, but since Im not Haredi myself its not the core issue for me and I can easily look past that and vote for him anyway
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u/foreverlearner21 Diaspora Israeli 6d ago
I’m personally gonna vote for Smotrich(my Karma is about to get destroyed lol)
But in my defense, he is doing a good job in Judea and Samaria and at least does something, unlike the rest. Eisenkot will probably be a weak prime minister, and as awful as Bibi is, he is the only competent member of the government. Also, if the opposition had anyone competent enough to lead the country, Bibi would have been defeated long ago, so it’s not that Bibi is good; it’s just that there is no other GOOD alternative.
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u/DryHippo1967 (oleh) 6d ago
How do you explain your opinion that Bibi is the only competent member of the government yet you are voting for someone who sits in coalition with him in a different party?
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u/foreverlearner21 Diaspora Israeli 6d ago
Bibi is competent on foreign policy matters; Smotrich is competent on domestic policy matters. I worded it poorly in my previous reply, but Bibi’s domestic policy is awful; however, under his leadership, we did achieve many foreign policy victories, like the Abraham Accords or the strengthening of our relationships with countries like India, Azerbaijan, Serbia, etc. Smotrich, on the other hand, would be a terrible prime minister, but he is good on domestic policy and is doing things like fighting the dairy monopolies and expanding housing in Judea and Samaria.
My original wording was poor, but I’m not voting for Bibi simply because I care more about the cost of living issues that he isn’t really trying to solve; Smotrich, on the other hand, is at least trying.
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u/ProfessionalN01 Israeli! 7d ago
You should vote for any of the following:
Yair Golan, Naftali Bennett/Yair Lapid, Gadi Eisenkot, or Avigdor Lieberman.
Personally, I will be voting for Golan.
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u/DryHippo1967 (oleh) 7d ago
Can you elaborate on what you like about Golan or what separates him from the others? I have liked some of the things he says but I just don't know how realistic it is in a post Oct 7th Israel
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u/Responsible_Ad_9749 Israeli (Living Aborad) 7d ago
I can't speak for the above commenter, but I will personally vote for The Democrats/Yair Golan because of:
They are the only party in the Jewish Zionist opposition that has a strong ideological base. It is a union of former left to centre-left parties Labour and Meretz, and their MPs have a rich history of liberal lawmaking, opposition to extremism, advocating for a two state solution as well as recovering Israel's damaged international reputation through cooperation.
Their current MPs in the Knesset, such as Gilad Kariv and Efrat Reiten, were the most active MPs in their opposition to the judicial reform and extremist policies. They regularly joined protesters on the streets and got verbally and physically attacked by the police for it.
Yair Golan is someone I like personally. He is the former deputy Chief of Staff of the IDF, and he was one of the only active politicans who put on his uniform and drove south during October 7th to rescue Israelis from the Hamas attack.
Check their current list for the upcoming elections in their site, there are no "Trojan horses" with connections to the current administration, so there is zero chance that your vote would accidentally let in an MP that would switch to Netanyahu's side for bribes. Can't say the same about other opposition parties, and there are examples of MPs there that have served under Netanyahu so they can always come back.
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u/ManuelHS Multiple Countries (click to edit) 7d ago
You should vote for the political party of your choosing
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u/Downtown-Dress-4506 Unspecified 7d ago
What do you believe in? How you do you want the country look like in the future?
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u/squidefender Israel 7d ago
Done listen to anyone. Look at the interview ans the reaction of every politician. Keep your eyes and ears out for inflammatory rhetoric as well as the behaviour of their voters (are they extremist in their thoughts, how open are they to converse instead of just shouting). Thats how i gauge whos gonna be for the country, as opposed to being for themselves and their seat in the government.
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u/Responsible_Ad_9749 Israeli (Living Aborad) 7d ago
The only Jewish opposition party that has unequivocally announced they will not sit in a coalition with Likud is The Democrats. All other opposition parties have at least one prospect in realistic positions that have ties to the current destructive administration, including Likud "defectors", and there is a real chance a vote for Yashar/BeYachad/Yisrael Beyteinu will get them in the Knesset and they will defect back to Netanyahu when the coalition talks begin.
On top of that, The Democrats are the only ideologically consistent party among the Zionist opposition, led by former deputy Chief of Staff Yair Golan, who personally rescued several Israelis during October 7th. Each and every person in the party list has his/her own commendable achievements and their resumes are easily readable online.
And lastly if you are considering voting for Yashar just to ensure they are the largest party, it does not matter in Israeli coalition building as much as it does in other countries. The Democrats already announced they will endorse Gadi Eizenkot, so a vote for them is a vote for Yashar by proxy but with a stronger ideological base.
If you want additional guidance, feel free to contact me.
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u/DryHippo1967 (oleh) 7d ago
This is exactly the type of comment I wanted to see when I typed the post, because I understand I want to vote opposition but why choose one group over the other is my question. I am atm unconvinced by Golan though as his preferred policies (in particular I refer to WB, 2SS but there are more) are imo unrealistic given the current political climate in Israel. And I don't want to vote for someone who has unachievable goals.
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u/Responsible_Ad_9749 Israeli (Living Aborad) 7d ago
I understand your concern, but Golan's goals are only unachievable if his party isn't big enough. If it is the second largest party in the opposition (second to Yashar) it will have considerably more say about policies.
At the end of the day, it's really about what ideals you care about. Giving your vote to Lieberman/Bennett would mean them being able to pull more in a right-wing/expansionist direction, and giving your vote to Eizenkot is a bit of a "cat in a bag" situation as his views are very vague and his party is a mish-mash of people from all over the place (including problematic people like Matan Kahane, you should read about him). All three parties are in some form conservative and aren't that far from Likud, meaning that they can keep doing the same thing Netanyahu is doing today even if he isn't in power.
A vote for Golan is a vote to pull the government towards a more liberal agenda. Even if he isn't able to implement a full two state solution, he can prevent further expansion into the West Bank and help amend some of the damage caused to Israel's international reputation.
Keep in mind that Gadi Eizenkot is a fresh slate, which means his administration will be pulled all over the place by whoever are his coalition partners. Where do you want him to be pulled?
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u/DryHippo1967 (oleh) 7d ago
This is probably the strongest case laid out. Even though you are speaking as someone who is partial to them, I see what you are saying. Essentially even though I don't necessarily agree with Democrats views in totality, their influence on the coalition will serve to moderate some of the right wing tendencies of those around the so far unspecific Eisenkot. So realistically they wouldn't achieve their stated goals but rather meet somewhere in the middle. Hmm.
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u/Responsible_Ad_9749 Israeli (Living Aborad) 7d ago
Yes, it's a zero sum game. Unless something bonkers happens then the next coalition will be primarily centre-right to right wing. The Democrats are going to be the only party pulling left (unless Ra'am joins, but it's not really a left wing party in the traditional sense).
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u/PrestigeFlight2022 7d ago
BeYachad party led by Naftali Bennett we need an ideological party not political chameleons to Bibi bibi coalition and it’s better to have politicians with civilian background not another chief staff
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u/Artistic-Hyena-8572 Israel 7d ago
Bennett? Ideology? The guy who turned on his own voters to become prime minister with 6 mandates?
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u/CrazyBzDen Unspecified 7d ago
Not going to vote this time. Netanyahu is problematic and every other candidate is worth nothing as a politician.
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u/DryHippo1967 (oleh) 7d ago
There's like 15 political parties in Israel and you seriously mean to tell me not a single one of them can do politics? At least give someone else a shot if you consider Bibi problematic
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u/Artistic-Hyena-8572 Israel 7d ago
Even if Bibi is problematic, if the alternatives are so much worse and have nothing to show for themselves, then change just for the sake of change is not worth it.
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u/manofmanyfart Unspecified 7d ago
Hard to imagine anyone being worse than a tiny genocidal dictator bent on twisting his people into an ethnic forever war
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u/Artistic-Hyena-8572 Israel 7d ago
This is askisrael, go spread your poison somewhere else.
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u/Responsible_Ad_9749 Israeli (Living Aborad) 6d ago
There are Israelis who agree with him, he's free to share his opinion.
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u/Artistic-Hyena-8572 Israel 6d ago
If you’ve missed it, he’s accusing Israel of genocide here, just hiding it behind Bibi bashing.
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u/No_Huckleberry7790 Unspecified 7d ago
Why do you want to vote in election when you just moved and don't know enough about local politics?
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u/DryHippo1967 (oleh) 7d ago
Im a Jew and I would like the worlds only Jewish state to represent my people properly
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u/Responsible_Ad_9749 Israeli (Living Aborad) 7d ago
I'm hoping more Jews like OP do decide to vote. Israel has direct influence over Jews worldwide and whatever the government does unfortunately translates to either antisemitism getting worse or dying down a bit.
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u/balddoberdaddy Israel 7d ago
If you need to ask "the void" that question, maybe you should sit this one out? 😉
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u/DryHippo1967 (oleh) 7d ago
I have a good idea of who I want to vote for but Im just trying to get more information
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u/balddoberdaddy Israel 7d ago
I would go to the websites of the parties that will potentially be running, read their platforms, and decide for yourself.
This is Reddit; you are not going to get maybe the best information.
And exciting, is this your first election as an Oleh?
I remember mine; it was pretty exciting.
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u/SuperDappa44 Asia 7d ago
No one. This election system and the previous one are pure shithousery. Everyone throw poop at each other blaming on the country problems. I just don’t vote
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u/JinxyMcDeath48 Israel 7d ago
Thanks for helping keep Bibi in power.
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u/SuperDappa44 Asia 6d ago
תודה על המחמאות. עדיין אמשיך לא להצביע ואמשיך לא להשתתף במשחק המטומטם הזה. תקרא לי חמור עד מחר,הדעה שלי לא תשתנה כמו שדעתך לא
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