Jerusalem, Israel - Oct. 30, 2018 - I have not written in quite a while. Turns out I have been too busy actually living my life to write. But – today was my first experience voting here in Israel. Definitely worth an article.
Today is Election Day throughout Israel. It is a national holiday and workers are required to be given the day off. OK, not those of us that work for an American company, but oh well. Here in Jerusalem we were voting for the mayor (term 5 years) and the City Council members. Unlike the US, the only actual person you vote for is the mayor. For city council, you only vote for a political party. No, this will NOT be lesson on Israeli politics. Way above my pay grade. There are 21 political parties to choose from in this election. No, really. See attached picture. How many seats your party gets depends on the percentage of the vote they receive. Each party is designated for a one or two letter acronym. For example, Degel haTorah is דת. There five candidates for mayor. Each one is supported by one or more political parties.
I was rather nervous about voting. I mean, I voted in Baltimore for 30 years, but who knows how it works here? Would I understand the ballot? Would I be able to figure out what to do? Turns out, it was a non-issue. No ballot questions or referendums in Hebrew that I wouldn’t understand. In fact, there is almost nothing to read at all. And the system is color-coded. When you walk into the polling place (often a school as in the US), you must show your Teudat Zehut – Israeli identification papers. This verifies who you are and where you live. Then you are sent to the voting room. There your Teudat Zehut is again checked and your name is checked off the master list. You are given 2 envelopes, a white one and a yellow one. You take the 2 envelopes to the table where you vote, enclosed by a cardboard barrier. On the table is a box divided into sections. Each section has slips of paper. The yellow ones are the mayoral candidates. The white are the political parties. You put the yellow slip with the name of your mayoral candidate in the yellow envelope. The white slip with your choice of political candidate in the white envelope. Seal both envelopes. In the middle of the room is a box. Put the envelopes in the box. Done.
So, from a purely technical aspect, that is how the election works. But this is Israel. An election here is passionate. Voting isn’t just a civic duty. My cell phone gets blown up with robo-calls in Hebrew and English urging me to vote and create a Kiddush Shamayim. Ramkol cars (loudspeaker) drive through every neighborhood promoting one or another candidate or party (or both). Flyers are literally plastered everywhere, including underfoot. Every bus is a moving political billboard. My grandson went to a rally in Bnei Brak and came home singing party songs. I really have not listened to the political debate, so I cannot tell you if the level of rhetoric is like the current state of affairs in the US. But, voting here is not like voting in the US. Where else would you have the guys standing outside the polls telling you who this or that Gadol b’Torah supports? And the brachos that you will receive for voting this way or that? Only here is a civic and political obligation raised to the level of a religious obligation as well.
As with everything else, voting here is life on a different plane.
