As Israel approaches an election in which neither major political bloc appears assured of a governing majority, immigrants who have made the country their home are expressing sharply different views about its political future. It reflects divisions over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, national security and the country's relationship with the United States. Interviews with five Israelis who moved from the United States and Italy, some within the past few months and others more than a decade ago, reveal how people united by the decision to build their lives in Israel can disagree profoundly about how it should be governed.
Their experiences offer a personal view of a national divide that extends beyond support for Netanyahu. Even among immigrants who share a strong attachment to Israel, there is disagreement over what the country needs most: experienced leadership, political change, greater national unity or a different relationship with Washington. Recent polling reflects the country's political divisions.
A Maariv poll published on October 23 projected 48 seats for Netanyahu's coalition parties and 54 for the main opposition bloc, leaving both short of the 61 seats required to control Israel's 120-member parliament, the Knesset. The divisions extend beyond party preferences. A September Israel Democracy Institute survey found that foreign affairs and security were the leading electoral considerations among Jewish respondents identifying with the right, while economic concerns led among centrists and religion-and-state issues ranked first on the left.
Those competing priorities are also evident among immigrants preparing to cast their ballots. For Jen Aziz, 36, who moved to Israel from New York, this summer, voting for the first time as an Israeli citizen carries considerable emotional weight. "It feels very just like you're finally like a real part of this nation because you're able to have a say in what the government looks like," she told Newsweek.
Aziz said she had spoken with Israelis who wanted Netanyahu replaced after his long tenure in power, but her own assessment is different. She credits Netanyahu's relationship with the United States and the joint military operations against Iran's nuclear facilities with demonstrating his effectiveness as a leader. "For me personally, he wins my vote just for having accomplished that," Aziz said.
Aziz believes Israel needs an experienced politician capable of working closely with Washington, particularly given the country's security challenges. Her support illustrates one argument for Netanyahu's reelection: that his experience and international relationships are assets during a period of extraordinary security pressures. For other immigrants, however, the same turbulent years have produced a different conclusion.
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