A few interestig facts about Israeli elections...

March 17th. Potentially a crucial day in Israeli history and everyone seems suspiciously calm. I compare it to the 2007 when Obama ran against McCain and Palin, trying to break the long Republican rule and a victory seemed so unrealistic up until the last few months. When some of my friends went door-to-door in New Hampshire trying to convert the state residents one by one. The Hope and Promise won back then, and I now brace for such a miracle here in Israel. Unfortunately most of the people around me are not very optimistic. Many are so disillusioned with the constant changes of governments, wars and high cost of living that they don't believe anything will change no matter who comes to power.

A few interesting facts about our elections:

1. There is a party that is running under the leadership (OK, spiritual leadership) of a dead person. Rabby Ovadia Yossef.
2. There is a party advertising itself with only one statement: "Death sentence to the terrorists"
3. Three letters that each party marks their voting cards with are usually not the letter of the party name. For example Netanyahu's Likud party has מחל, the Zionist Union has אמת  Why make it simple?
   
4. Zionist Union is ahead of Likud in the latest polls and this gives us a lot of hope. However their victory still doesn't guarantee that they will be able to build a coalition and form the government. 
5. Meretz - the truly democratic party in Israel is struggling to get enough votes to pass the threshold of even being considered for Knesset.  Many of their usual voters are strategically ditching the party for Zionist Union to give it a slight lead over Likud.
6. In a smart move three different Arab parties are running together with projected 13 seats in the Knesset (out of total 120). After the Zionist Union and Likud this is now the third largest party. Will they be invited to the coalition?
7. We are hopeful because there are some young, brave and smart people in the party lists, like Stav Shaffir from the Zionist Union. Here is the link to her brilliant viral speech (with English subtitles) against the accusation that her party is not Zionist enough. Click on the image:
   
8. V15 (Victory15) is a new household name in Israel. It is a grassroots outreach organization created by young Israelis and funded by the US billionaire Daniel Abraham and some other money. It does not affiliate itself with any party but it does call for a change of the current government. "Simply Change" booths and posters like this one could be spotted all around Israel:
   
9. 200 current and ex-IDF commanders create an organization and run ads in this weekend's papers saying: "Netanyahu destroyed the US-Israel relationships. Netanyahu failed to uproot Hamas. Netanyahu didn't stop the Neuclear Iran. Real security is more than just words."
10. Amos Oz, one of the most prominent Israeli writers and a proffesor of literature writes in this Satrday's Haaretz newspaper: We’ll begin with the most important thing, with a matter of life-and-death for the State of Israel: If there will not be two states here, and fast, there will be one state here. If there will be one state here, it will be an Arab state, from the sea to the Jordan River. If there will be an Arab state here, I don’t envy my children and my grandchildren.

Dear friends, please stay with us as we go through these crucial days. What party will get the majority of the votes, whether this party will be able to negotiate a coalition, how long the coalition will last, will the new government be better? For now we are living our Spring of Hope and Promise.