Ballot Jitters: Young Jewish and Arab Israelis Express Anxiety over Future Government

While a survey found that more than two-thirds of Israelis want elections held as soon as the war is over, many young Israelis do not like the available options and are hoping that new parties will arise

Over two-thirds of more than 600 Jewish and Arab Israelis who took part in a survey conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute in December said that elections should be held in Israel as soon as the current Israel-Hamas war is over. Specifically, 66% of Jewish respondents and 84% of Arab respondents held that view.

In the wake of that poll, The Media Line interviewed young Jewish and Arab Israelis to gain a better understanding of their perspectives on potential elections and the future trajectory of the country.

Dr. Gayil Talshir, a political science expert and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told The Media Line that it would not be unusual for young people to abstain from voting entirely as a response to the government’s handling of the war.

“I think what is interesting is what’s going to happen in two arenas,” Talshir said. “One is how many people are going to decline from voting altogether after such a colossal crisis: ‘We don’t have any trust in the government and we’re not going to vote,’ which may be an extreme reaction of youth. Second is that a lot of the younger cohorts, 18 to 28, voted in great numbers for the extreme right-wing in Israel in the elections of November 2022.”

I don’t think the current government is legitimate. I think they need to be replaced. I think there should be an election after the war.

Samuel, a 24-year-old Jewish Israeli studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told The Media Line that he would vote for opposition Knesset member Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu party rather than for current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party.

“I am definitely going to be voting in the next elections, but for a more liberal and incorrupt party, like Yisrael Beiteinu, not the Likud,” Samuel said. “I don’t think the current government is legitimate. I think they need to be replaced. I think there should be an election after the war.”

The poll also found that more than half of the respondents, 57%, said that they would either vote for the same party as in previous elections or for a different party within the same political bloc. Only a small number of voters for most parties said they would vote for a different bloc altogether. However, the percentage of Likud voters who said they would vote for a different political bloc altogether almost doubled, from 8.5% to 16%.

Daniel, a 26-year-old Jewish Israeli studying at Tel Aviv University, said he did not know for whom he might vote, but he was hoping that a different party would arise.

“I don’t know who I would vote for,” he said. “However, I never supported the current government even before the war, and I don’t think they’re ever going to change, not even 15 years from now. I don’t think it’s a democratic government.”

Some 28% of the poll respondents said they had not decided for whom they would vote. A small percentage said they did not intend to vote at all.

Madeline, a 24-year-old Tel Aviv University student who immigrated to Israel seven years ago, told The Media Line that she would probably vote for Netanyahu.

“I don’t trust someone more than I trust Bibi; I don’t trust him so much as well,” she said. “So it’s not like I’m deciding to vote for Bibi. It’s like, for now, I don’t see someone better that I would vote for.”

October 7 is one of the greatest crises that Israel has ever had. … I don’t see how anyone expects the former government to get votes for such a colossal crisis.

Talshir told The Media Line that the public backlash against the government was largely due to the enormous security lapse of Oct. 7.

“October 7 is one of the greatest crises that Israel has ever had,” she said. “So, it’s not just the judicial overhaul that this government led, but it’s also this military and security crisis. And I don’t see how anyone expects the former government to get votes for such a colossal crisis.”

Nadia, a 22-year-old Arab Israeli studying at Haifa University, told The Media Line that she was not planning to vote in the upcoming elections. She said that none of the political parties aligned with her beliefs and that they failed to promote equality for both sides.

“Before the war, I didn’t vote for any party because I felt like none of the parties identify with the beliefs I follow, and especially now after the war, I do not trust the government and I don’t plan on voting,” she said.

The Arab sector has a historically high rate of not voting in Israeli elections, and one of the primary concerns for Arab Israelis is the challenge of identifying politicians who actively advocate for their interests. Arab Israelis claim that only a handful of politicians do so, including Ahmad Tibi, head of the Ta’al party, and Sami Abu Shehadeh, head of the Balad party, both of whom have provided a platform for the Palestinian Israeli population.

Ahmad, a 20-year-old Arab Israeli student at Reichman University, told The Media Line he intends to vote for Tibi. He blamed the current government for the war.

“If we look back in history, we can see that every huge war that happened was caused by a radical right-wing party, and this current government that we live under is radical,” he said.

Omar, a 22-year-old Arab Israeli student at Ono College, told The Media Line that he had never voted before the war, but Israel’s actions in the war had motivated him to vote for Tibi in the future.

“I don’t agree with the current parties right now, like Likud, Otzmah Yehudit, or Yesh Atid, because they are all so aggressive, and against Arabs, and against Palestinians in general,” he said.

“We are ruled by extremists, and I’m not saying this just because I, myself, am a Palestinian holding Israeli citizenship, I am saying this because what is happening right now is simply against humanity.”

Lana Ikelan is a recent graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an intern in The Media Line’s Press and Policy Student Program.