Take voting seriously

The Israeli reality shows "A Star is Born" and "Big Brother" are very popular among the public. However, elections are not about ratings. Too many young Israelis are explaining their decision to support a given party because "it has nice candidates" or "the party's leader is sympathetic and intelligent" or "the party's leader is charismatic, self-confident and served in an elite army unit." Not a word about the party's positions on socio-economic matters, the health system or settlements in Judea and Samaria.

This phenomenon also existed in previous elections. More than 180,000 voters supported the Pensioners Party in 2006 as a protest against other parties. Many of these voters quickly regretted their capricious decision when they realized that the Pensioners' seven Knesset members were more interested in infighting than in helping the elderly. This was similar to Rafael Eitan's Tzomet party, which won eight seats (more than 166,000 votes) in the 1992 election, even though no one knew anything about the people in the party.

It is sad that many people do not understand the deep meaning of the power that is given to them to influence the political future of the country. When I read an article in Israel Hayom's most recent weekend edition about the first Knesset, I envied the pride citizens felt when they cried out of happiness and excitement over exercising their right to vote. For the first time in 2,000 years, Jews in the Land of Israel felt that they were active participants in determining their fate.

Even today, 64 years after Israel's establishment, we have not yet reached a state of tranquility. Israel faces many difficult and complex security, economic, social and religious issues on a daily basis, not to mention the dangers and external threats coming from Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah. Elections are the most concrete and real expression of each individual's ability to influence what will happen in this country. What will be the national priorities? Will enough resources be invested in struggling peripheral communities? Will social gaps be narrowed? Is there a chance to improve the quality of life in the country? Will we be able to stop the phenomenons of murder, violence and crime from growing on our streets? One ballot put in a box on Tuesday is the answer from each of us.

We all must take the right to vote with appropriate seriousness. No one should give up this right. Everyone who votes must make one's choice based on the outlook and values represented by the various party lists, rather than the personal characteristics of candidates, such as charisma, hairstyle, body size and clothing.

I was excited to hear about young Israelis who came from Berlin, other European cities and the U.S. just to participate in the election. For each of them, it was important to spend hundreds or even more than a thousand dollars on a flight to Israel in order to vote. This is heartwarming. It is too bad that so few Israelis living abroad do so.

טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו