What a day. It is currently midnight and I am sitting on the floor of the last bus from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The day that began at 8:30am and ran nonstop through the afternoon and evening is almost done. Although Election Day has indeed passed, the results are far from calculated or finalized.
As a result of my weekly volunteering at campaign headquarters in South Tel Aviv since arriving here in Israel, I was fortunate to be a part of the Herzog campaign trail. We traveled as a large caravan to roughly eight different cities in central Israel, rallying voters and spreading the energy of hope and change from the Zionist Union campaign platform. Various Ministers of Knesset joined us in speaking with Israeli constituents. By the end of the day, the songs and chants became engrained in my head and my iPhone had died numerous times.
My friend Robbie and I with one of Israel’s rising political stars, Stav Shaffir.
Our efforts throughout the day were met with mixed feelings from Israeli citizens. Many chanted Rak Bibi, Rak Bibi! (only Bibi, only Bibi!), while others smiled and hoped that a new wave of leadership was on Israel’s horizon. The large team of campaign volunteers, from young ten-year-olds to older and wiser Israelis, persisted throughout the day. We survived on chocolate wafers and tuna salad sandwiches.
The pre-election polls had swayed generously in the Zionist Union’s favor. What seemed impossible three months ago (replacing the current leader of Bibi Netanyahu) was now being projected in newspapers from the Jerusalem Post to the New York Times. Last minute campaign strategies by the main parties proved very effective in rallying the extra few mandates amongst the roughly 25% of Israelis who remained undecided going into the booths. Bibi, in an appeal to Israel’s religious nationals, resorted to extremist measures by insisting that no Palestinian state would form under his reign. Tzipi Livni, who was slated to share the Prime Minister role with Yitzhak Herzog in a rotation cycle, agreed to step down from the party’s slate with the hopes of catering to more of the masses.
With the Zionist Union’s slated Secretary of Defense, Amos Yadlin
The final stop on the campaign trail was an exit poll celebration party in a basketball arena. Scores of journalists and campaign workers filled the hall with flags and stickers. Eyes were glued to the jumbo screens that had the predicted number of Parliament seats for each party.
To much surprise, Bibi’s Likud boasted 28 seats while Herzog garnered 27. Both parties surpassed their predicted numbers, with Bibi’s being the more impressive feat (some polls predicted him receiving as little as 20 seats). What struck me the most was how each party, from the Left to the Right Wing, was celebrating as if they had won the World Cup. Our campaign worked tirelessly for each vote, yet the prospect of replacing Bibi this time around is all but lost.
It is comical that most foreign journalists will be leaving the country tomorrow thinking that there is no more news to cover on the elections. They couldn’t be more wrong as now is the time for the raw, gritty politics as the parties attempt to forge coalitions for the incoming government. The days and weeks to come will tell us who actually “won” the election.
It was indeed a fun ride being a part of it all!
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