Winter turns to spring as elections heat up Israel

Even as Israel experienced its heaviest snowfall in some areas in two decades this past Thursday, other areas are already seeing signs of spring, whose official date is the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Shevat or Tu B’shvat, this year on January 26th.

Before that date, though, things are heating up in Israel in anticipation of elections to be held on January 22nd. Multiple parties are vying for placement in the 120 seat Knesset. The Knesset, Israel’s parliament, similar to the House of Representatives, is officially elected every four years, but elections can be called earlier for various reasons. Israel’s electoral system is “based on nation-wide proportional representation,” according to the Knesset’s website. The votes from the whole country are divided by the 120 seats in the Knesset; each seat is represented by the same number of votes. Voters vote for political parties; each party presents a list of members. The more votes a party gets, the more members on its list from the top down get a seat in the Knesset. A party must receive at least 2% of the votes to get in. The President determines the party most likely to put together a majority of seats and chooses its head as prime minister, charged with forming a government.

There are quite a few parties vying for votes, holding different platforms, goals and views. Next week we hope to discuss the results of the elections.

Some local Five Towners are traveling to Israel this week and if they hold Israeli citizenship, may be able to vote. Only Israeli citizens present in Israel during the elections may vote.

The Central Election Committee set up a website and toll free telephone number for Israeli citizens to find their polling location based on their mailing address.

The URL for the English site is: http://www.bechirot.gov.il/elections19/eng/home_eng.aspx

The toll free number in English is 1-800-200-135. The number in Hebrew is 1-800-200-137 .

According to the Central Election Committee, “It is not necessary to present your voter notification card when coming to vote; you do need any one of the following means of identification: An Israeli ID card, a valid drivers license, or a passport.”

A user can also type in their teudat zehut number to find their polling station at a government site, available in Hebrew at https://kalpi.elections.gov.il/ .