Post-Election Day
So the problem with procrastination is that even though most of this email was written on Election Day, I somehow never got around to finishing it up and sending it off. So now, four days after the polls closed, I come writing to you about the this years' Israeli elections. My apologies.
Israel has national elections every few years, depending on a number of things but mainly on whether or not the government has decided to work together or not. This year was the fourth election in seven years – that's a lot! – and some people were getting quite disillusioned. Sure there were posters and banners up with the requisite bumper stickers and scattered booths supporting any of the thirty one various political parties vying for seats in the Parliament. But by and large no one really cared.
In the days preceding the election conversation (among those with the ability to vote and non-citizens) was focused on who people were going to/would like to vote for. The day before the election people still had no idea for whom they were going to cast their ballot. The day of the election some people still had no idea for whom they were going to cast their ballot. Walking into the polling room some people still had no idea for whom they were going to vote. And that's just of the people who ended up voting after all.
Cab drivers here are infamous for their political opinions. You don't need to ask – the moment they start driving anywhere you immediately get more than earful of their political commentary. Which is why we were all so shocked to hear a friend of ours recount a conversation with a cabdriver the day before the election. He said, "Me, I don't know who I'm going to vote for. Actually, I don't think I'm going to vote at all. There aren't any good candidates, all the parties are awful, and my vote wouldn't matter anyway. I think I'm just going to take my family to the Dead Sea for a little vacation instead." What?!?!
Election Day is a National Holiday in Israel. The polls are open all day, but practically everything else in the city is closed. Businesses, schools, everyone is on vacation. The government wants everyone to able to vote, and people can only vote at the location where they are registered with the national government. For thousands of people this is their birth-place but not their current home so the day off gives them the opportunity to reach their polling location without missing work or school. I also heard a rumor (unconfirmed, although it sounds just like Israelis to me) that many people have the tradition of traveling far away on vacation the day before Election Day. On Election Day they just get on a bus headed home and show that they need to get back to their city of voting in order to vote that day. Their bus fare is waived.
But back to Jerusalem. Despite the fact that the weather was cool and overcast, hundreds of people had picnics and barbecues to celebrate the holiday. My school decided to hold classes, yet even I was affected by the festive atmosphere on the streets. The construction that I normally have to pick my way around on the walk to school was quiet – there were no dump trucks or cement trucks to avoid getting smushed by. The overflowing bus shelters that I passed were nearly empty since no one was rushing off to work. The guard at a local elementary school that I pass daily on my walk to school was still there. We chatted briefly, as usual, but today he wasn't watching little kids go to school but rather adults as they filed in to their local polling station. On my walk home that afternoon the streets were filled with people taking walks with friends and I even saw a father having a tea party with his daughters on an apartment balcony. Even my Talmud teacher, when describing a situation in which someone needs to pay someone else for damages, used the example of a man whose leg was broken and even though he could continue to work, he wouldn't be able to go hiking with his family on Election Day. How much would the injuring party then owe to the man with the broken leg? Only in Israel would Election Day automatically imply going on hikes with your family.
But eventually the polls closed and the tallies began to roll in. Unsurprisingly, a record low number of people voted and even their votes were mostly predictable. One surprising result was for the Pensioners. Shortly before the election a number of well connected elderly people decided that a platform of rights for the aged should be on the agenda of some of the larger political parties. After being rebuffed again and again they decided to form their own party. Most people had never heard much of them. But yet with a number of the pensioners voting as a bloc alongside a number of disenchanted other people who say at least one platform that they thought they could agree with, the Pensioner Party received a shocking seven seats in the Parliament! Seven seats out of 120 to a previously unknown party! In my opinion, that, if nothing else, reflects the apathy of the most recent election.
In the coming days and weeks, and the Israeli governments attempts to form new coalitions in the formation of the new government, everyone is waiting to see where they government is headed. But no one cares all too much.
PS - For an excellent recount of Election Day, I highly recommend Daniel Gordis' most recent dispatch which can be found here: http://www.danielgordis.org/2006_03_01_archive.html#114357306011847969
Israel has national elections every few years, depending on a number of things but mainly on whether or not the government has decided to work together or not. This year was the fourth election in seven years – that's a lot! – and some people were getting quite disillusioned. Sure there were posters and banners up with the requisite bumper stickers and scattered booths supporting any of the thirty one various political parties vying for seats in the Parliament. But by and large no one really cared.
In the days preceding the election conversation (among those with the ability to vote and non-citizens) was focused on who people were going to/would like to vote for. The day before the election people still had no idea for whom they were going to cast their ballot. The day of the election some people still had no idea for whom they were going to cast their ballot. Walking into the polling room some people still had no idea for whom they were going to vote. And that's just of the people who ended up voting after all.
Cab drivers here are infamous for their political opinions. You don't need to ask – the moment they start driving anywhere you immediately get more than earful of their political commentary. Which is why we were all so shocked to hear a friend of ours recount a conversation with a cabdriver the day before the election. He said, "Me, I don't know who I'm going to vote for. Actually, I don't think I'm going to vote at all. There aren't any good candidates, all the parties are awful, and my vote wouldn't matter anyway. I think I'm just going to take my family to the Dead Sea for a little vacation instead." What?!?!
Election Day is a National Holiday in Israel. The polls are open all day, but practically everything else in the city is closed. Businesses, schools, everyone is on vacation. The government wants everyone to able to vote, and people can only vote at the location where they are registered with the national government. For thousands of people this is their birth-place but not their current home so the day off gives them the opportunity to reach their polling location without missing work or school. I also heard a rumor (unconfirmed, although it sounds just like Israelis to me) that many people have the tradition of traveling far away on vacation the day before Election Day. On Election Day they just get on a bus headed home and show that they need to get back to their city of voting in order to vote that day. Their bus fare is waived.
But back to Jerusalem. Despite the fact that the weather was cool and overcast, hundreds of people had picnics and barbecues to celebrate the holiday. My school decided to hold classes, yet even I was affected by the festive atmosphere on the streets. The construction that I normally have to pick my way around on the walk to school was quiet – there were no dump trucks or cement trucks to avoid getting smushed by. The overflowing bus shelters that I passed were nearly empty since no one was rushing off to work. The guard at a local elementary school that I pass daily on my walk to school was still there. We chatted briefly, as usual, but today he wasn't watching little kids go to school but rather adults as they filed in to their local polling station. On my walk home that afternoon the streets were filled with people taking walks with friends and I even saw a father having a tea party with his daughters on an apartment balcony. Even my Talmud teacher, when describing a situation in which someone needs to pay someone else for damages, used the example of a man whose leg was broken and even though he could continue to work, he wouldn't be able to go hiking with his family on Election Day. How much would the injuring party then owe to the man with the broken leg? Only in Israel would Election Day automatically imply going on hikes with your family.
But eventually the polls closed and the tallies began to roll in. Unsurprisingly, a record low number of people voted and even their votes were mostly predictable. One surprising result was for the Pensioners. Shortly before the election a number of well connected elderly people decided that a platform of rights for the aged should be on the agenda of some of the larger political parties. After being rebuffed again and again they decided to form their own party. Most people had never heard much of them. But yet with a number of the pensioners voting as a bloc alongside a number of disenchanted other people who say at least one platform that they thought they could agree with, the Pensioner Party received a shocking seven seats in the Parliament! Seven seats out of 120 to a previously unknown party! In my opinion, that, if nothing else, reflects the apathy of the most recent election.
In the coming days and weeks, and the Israeli governments attempts to form new coalitions in the formation of the new government, everyone is waiting to see where they government is headed. But no one cares all too much.
PS - For an excellent recount of Election Day, I highly recommend Daniel Gordis' most recent dispatch which can be found here: http://www.danielgordis.org/2006_03_01_archive.html#114357306011847969
posted by sarah @ 6:21 PM
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