Netanyahu Tries to Prevent Israelis Abroad from Returning to Vote

An election billboard for the "Likud" party led by Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel, features Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, New York City Mayor Zahran Mamdani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem, with a phrase in Hebrew saying: "They want Netanyahu to lose, so don't let them win." - As the date of the Israeli elections approaches, just a few weeks away, the fiercest political battles are underway. Reports indicate that tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad are booking flights to return to vote, while the "Likud" party - led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - is trying to prevent at least some of them from doing so.

On Wednesday, the "Likud" party submitted a request to the Israeli Central Elections Committee to ban the "Fly & Vote" initiative; a grassroots initiative aimed at helping Israeli expatriates travel to the country to participate in voting on election day. The party accused this initiative of being illegal and funded by foreign entities, claiming it could "seriously harm the integrity of the elections". In a country where election results are often decided by very narrow margins, these votes could play a crucial role in determining the identity of the country's next leader.

Unlike most Western democracies that allow citizens living abroad to vote by mail, Israel does not permit remote voting (or absentee voting); the right to vote from outside the country is limited to diplomats and official envoys only. Ordinary citizens living abroad - who may constitute up to 10% of the total population at any time - must return home or forfeit their right to vote.

In this context, Oadi Ayash, an Israeli digital content creator living in Thailand, stated to Ofoq News that the issue of returning to vote was not in doubt or hesitation for him, saying: "As someone who is very engaged in public affairs and very concerned about the reality of Israeli leadership (currently), I feel that this is my duty. Abstaining from exercising my democratic right simply due to travel costs or for the sake of convenience seems to me a blatant hypocrisy."

The elections on October 27 will be the first national elections held after four turbulent years marked by the rule of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition allied with ultra-Orthodox parties; a period that included massive protests by liberal Israelis against the judicial reform plan, and the October 7, 2023 attack that was followed by a three-year war on multiple fronts. Recent opinion polls indicate that both Netanyahu's coalition and the opposition - which is suffering from deep divisions - still fall short of the majority threshold (61 seats) needed to form a government.

On the other hand, the Likud party fears that the return of large numbers of Israeli expatriates will enhance the opposition parties' chances amid the intensifying electoral competition and the expected closeness of the results.