Israel’s Elections: A Triumph of Democracy

This past week I voted in Israel’s national elections. I am a dual US – Israeli citizen and I vote in both countries. This article is about what happens when a country sets aside a full day for its citizens to chart its course for the future together and what we in America could learn from it.

77.7% of eligible Israeli citizens voted last Tuesday. Nearly 5.7 million people. That is the highest turnout in a generation. That doesn’t happen by accident. In Israel, Election Day is a national holiday. Offices close. Schools close. Public transportation is free. Nobody has to choose between their work shift and their ballot. The message is simple: elections matter so we make room for them..

I voted in Tel Aviv. I showed up to a crowded polling station where I waited for about an hour with several hundred other people. In true Israeli style there was a lot of open and loud discussion about the elections, what possible coalitions we might expect and, of course, a good dose of cynical humor.

People showed up at my polling station as singles, couples, and many came with their kids and even dogs. Election day is treated as a holiday and regardless of whatever results are announced later, the day itself is a celebration of democracy.

Compare that to the United States. In the U.S., we vote on a Tuesday in the middle of the workweek and ask people to squeeze democracy in between work, carpool and childcare. Whether people choose not to vote, just can’t find the time, or for a myriad of other reasons, election day in the United States is not the celebration of the democratic process that it could be.

The results of Israel’s elections reveal a deeply divided country. Americans know exactly what that feels like. The possible coalitions that will determine the next government are being analyzed 24/7, and we will have to wait and see what transpires over the coming weeks. However, what I want to focus on is not the outcome. It’s the turnout.

People who voted very differently, secular and religious, Jewish and Arab, young and old, all came out to vote to make their vision of Israel’s future heard. Nearly eight out of ten citizens voted, from every corner of the country and every walk of life. Every one of them came for the same reason: to make their voice heard.

Israel has real flaws and a lot of work ahead. But a country where such a high percentage of its citizens come out to vote is a democracy that is very much alive. People brought very different visions and aspirations for the future of this state, many of them deeply contentious. But the election and the way elections are held here gave all citizens the same opportunity: to put a vote behind their vision.

This past week was a triumph of Israel’s democracy: millions of people who care enough about their shared future to stop everything and weigh in, and who will be back to arguing, building and hoping tomorrow morning. I was proud to stand among them.

I look forward to a future Election Day in the United States where just as large a percentage of voters come out to share their vision of America’s future.