The Excitement of Israeli Becherot (Elections)

            I find elections exciting. That probably makes me a dork, but whatever.

I was really excited when I had the chance to vote for the first time last spring, in the Democratic primaries. Then, I was able to vote in some local elections and primaries. (I promise that was more exciting than it sounds.) Finally, I voted in the presidential election last fall. Even though, I had to do it through the mail from Israel and did not go into that exciting booth, I still found choosing the next leader of the free world pretty exciting.

Just recently, Israel had national elections. Young people my age were able vote across the country. I, of course, was unable because I am not a citizen of Israel. I had thought about how I would feel about being unable to vote in the place where I was living and I knew it would not just be unexciting, but downright frustrating. Turned out, excitement still ensued.

            We had spent a fair amount of time learning about Israeli politics from our teachers and madrichim (counselors). We learned that Israel has a multi-party system. We learned that these parties have to build coalitions to form a government. We learned how Knesset (Israeli Parliament) functions.

Above all, we learned that Israel's political system is complicated. It makes democracy in the United States look like an exercise in simplicity. If you think a game of basketball is exciting when it is five players against five others (like the two-party system in U.S. elections), then imagine a game of basketball with ten players all on their own team. That's an Israeli election. Is it hectic? Yes. Is it exciting? Definitely.

On Election Day, I went with a madrich (counselor) of mine to a polling place to watch him vote. When I asked Dan whom would be getting his vote, he shrugged his shoulders. He had not decided yet, he explained.

When we arrived, there were representatives of different parties outside the building trying to convince voters how to cast their ballot. Yes, in Israel they are allowed to do this right outside of a polling place. In the U.S. we have laws against this but Israelis are too confrontational to consider this out of the ordinary. (Just an interesting side note to articulate how all-encompassing Israel's national elections are: The parties running for office buy up every, and I mean every, billboard in Jerusalem. Picture those giant billboards in Times Square that usually advertise movies and soda brands with huge images of Obama and McCain and you have the idea.) They allowed Dan the madrich to go into the polling area with 25 Year Coursers following him. Again, I could never see this permitted in America. Finally, Dan filled out his ballot (on paper in Israel) and started to walk to the officials, only to turn back and change his mind. With so many choices, who could blame him?

Now it has all ended and the details are being worked out to see who will control the Knesset. One thing is for certain though: An election with so many options where you could change your mind at the last second like that is an exciting thing indeed.