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Mar. 16, 2021
While immigrants from the former Soviet Union are often viewed as a valuable political bloc and targeted directly by election campaigns in Israel,
olim from English-speaking countries are generally regarded as much more politically diverse and so receive significantly less attention.
Due to the online nature of most campaigning in this particular election, though, it has become easier – and cheaper – to reach out to the Anglo community through Zoom, Facebook Live and other virtual platforms. As a result, Israel’s political parties have ramped up voter outreach efforts, holding a variety of English-language meetings online and sharing English campaign materials on social media.
By using the Health Ministry's 'Back to Life' slogan in its election campaign, Likud is 'improperly using public assets,' and could harm the vaccination drive, Mendelblit tells Israel's election panel
Likud
Ahead of the home stretch of the campaign, the feeling in Likud campaign headquarters is mixed. Officials think the goal – obtaining a majority in the Knesset, at least 61 seats for the right-wing and Haredi bloc – is in reach, but they’re worried about the party itself, which is stuck in the polls with fewer than 30 seats. In the previous campaign, last year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu managed to get his rivals where he wanted them. This time the attempt to drag Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid into the brawl is not working very well.
If Netanyahu succeeds in the upcoming Israeli election and forms the next government with an unholy alliance of far-right and religious extremists, democracy will suffer, and so will the country's ties with the United States