Tzvia Rubin has traveled with her three children the journey from Spain to Israel to participate in the elections that are held this Tuesday. She does so convinced that it is her duty as an Israeli citizen and because she believes that the country needs a turn after the last years with Benjamin Netanyahu in power. Like her, it is estimated that up to 80,000 Israelis living abroad have taken a plane to exercise their right to vote, the majority leaning towards the opposition parties.
Israel is among the few states that do not allow voting by mail and only permit in-person voting. Therefore, those living outside — just under a million Israelis — must return to the country if they want to participate in an election. There is no legal impediment even if they have been away for many years or have only resided in Israel for a short period. In an election where a very close result is expected between Netanyahu's bloc and the opposition, those potential 80,000 votes could even translate into two of the 120 seats in the Knesset.
"The feeling of those living abroad is that it is the least we can do. The people who live here have suffered the war, they have suffered a terrible, exclusionary, and corrupt government. So it is like the minimum we can do to improve" the situation, explains this Israeli who lives between her country and Barcelona in statements to Europa Press.
Rubin recounts that in the last decade she has traveled repeatedly to vote because "she cares" about Israel. "I am Israeli and what happens here touches my heart and mind a lot, and what is happening now is very bad for the State of Israel," she adds, pointing to the "current government." "I have all the reasons to come to vote," she emphasizes.
Her son, Ofer Laszewicki, fully shares this view. "Israelis like us living abroad cannot vote from outside, so we only have the option to come," he stresses. "Netanyahu's bloc has a very mobilized and very loyal traditional voter," he insists, before emphasizing that those who, like them, seek "a different path, not just a change of face" believe that "it was necessary to come, to be here physically, to vote." He also points out that it is also about "supporting our people on a day that we all consider to be historic and that we hope will bring about a change."
An expensive trip in fear for democracy
For this family, the economic outlay that the displacement has entailed, just like for other friends and acquaintances who have done the same, compensates the effort. Ofer maintains that "the feeling" of many is that "if the opposition does not win these elections, they could be the last democratic elections."
"This Government has an authoritarian tendency, it has made changes to the system that increasingly limit the independence of the judiciary. There are ministers who say it openly, who want to end the current democratic system. That is why many of us believe that it is worth making this economic and time effort to try to change things," he adds, referring to the reforms promoted by the Executive.
His brother Asaf illustrates this commitment. He will barely stay 48 hours in Israel and, for the first time since he moved to Spain 35 years ago, he has chosen to vote in an election. "I have decided to come this time with the effort that this entails because I believe it is a critical moment," he states. "I am still very emotionally connected to this place, I am Israeli, I am Jewish, and I believe that for the future of this country it is important that everyone puts in a little bit of their grain of sand," he explains.
As someone who lives abroad and does not follow the local press daily, Asaf considers that Israel "needs a change of direction." He laments the "stereotyped image" that is projected of the country, "which does not reflect the reality here" and attributes it in part to the current Executive. In his opinion, "changing that globally is a job that will probably take generations, so I don't think it can depend exclusively on a next Government that may last as long as it lasts," he points out when asked if a possible victory of the opposition could improve the international perception of Israel.
From supporting Netanyahu to backing the opposition
Ben Avidar has also returned from Spain to vote. This 25-year-old young man, a resident of Toledo, explains as he leaves a polling station in Florentina, a neighborhood in the south of Tel Aviv with a very diverse population and where hardly any posters of the block led by Netanyahu are seen, that this time he has opted for change.
"The last time I voted for Netanyahu to have peace before October 7," he confesses, recalling that at that time he saw it as a priority to reach an agreement with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. However, after the Hamas attack, he considers that the prime minister has managed "very poorly" relations with other governments, beyond the United States. "Israelis cannot walk peacefully outside their country," he laments.
"Our government has done well in some aspects, poorly in others, but specifically all communication with the world has been terrible," he argues, assuring that if in Spain he says he is Israeli, they will look at him badly and even attack him. "It is the responsibility of the countries where Israelis and Jews live, but it is also the responsibility of our government to manage relations much better than they do," he concludes.