Column | Many Israelis are flying home to vote in order to get more left-wing seats

One thing is clear: Israel is not a democracy. A country that upholds democratic values ​​does not commit genocidal atrocities, as Israel did in Gaza. And while hundreds of thousands of Israelis like me are traveling from all over the place to vote on Tuesday (Israel does not allow postal voting), millions of Palestinians living under the Israeli regime do not have the right to vote - in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip or East Jerusalem. Nevertheless, elections can have enormous effects even under authoritarian regimes. We know this, for example, from the overthrow of Pinochet's government in Chile.

Guli has just traveled to Israel to vote. He lives in Berlin and is active with Israelis for Peace.

Although there are an incredible number of parties in Israel, the political system is divided into four clear blocs. The first is the Netanyahu bloc, which includes the far-right and the ultra-Orthodox. On the other hand, there is the anti-Netanyahu bloc, which moves between right-wing and left-wing Zionists, led by Gadi Eizenkot, the former chief of staff of the Israeli army. The Palestinian-led parties, which are boycotted by most other parties, make up the third bloc. And then there are a few tiny parties that are trying to overcome the 3.25 percent hurdle and would work with both Netanyahu and Eizenkot to do so.

Nobody except the Palestinian parties is talking about Gaza. Nevertheless, if Netanyahu leaves office, the long overdue de-escalation could begin. An Eizenkot government will seek to ease Jewish society's internal tensions and reduce the financial and diplomatic costs of the war. For this to happen, there must almost inevitably be a less violent course in Gaza, the West Bank and Iran.

Israelis living abroad could play a decisive role in this: in recent years there has been a large wave of emigration due to the wars and Netanyahu's so-called judicial reform. The majority of leftists, including many academics and artists who are increasingly oppressed in Israel, left the country. On my flight alone there were enough theater actors to put together at least an ensemble. Since these people do not live in Israel, they were not included in the surveys. So if many of us actually travel to Israel for the elections, that could bring in a few extra left-wing seats.

Arriving at the airport in Tel Aviv, I got into a taxi full of hope and a sense of duty. The driver was really happy to take me, he immediately understood why I had come. He said he himself would vote for Lieberman or Bennett – two opposition politicians. Only after Netanyahu steps down can we really fight the Arabs, he added. Netanyahu is too corrupt and too dependent on the USA and the ultra-Orthodox. A new government could wage wars better, bomb more and attack all the shitty leftists who criticize Israel better at the international level.

Then all my optimism disappeared. Like my taxi driver, many others in the Israeli opposition are very far from democratic and humanistic values. They don't like Netanyahu's domestic policies, but they support the occupation of Palestine. Because of them, it cannot be assumed that there will be a new government - even if Netanyahu loses: If Eizenkot does not achieve a majority and the Arab parties continue to be boycotted by Jewish parties, new elections are most likely.

With us, no one has to pay to be informed. Sounds like a bad business model? It is too. But independent journalism and participation for everyone are more important to us than profit. Journalism still costs money: research, printing and all the people who do it. That's why we depend on you. We need 300,000 euros by the end of the year.

Donate once or regularly, every amount counts. So that nd remains.