🇮🇱 No matter who gets elected, they'll still piss on what they told you
Haaretz: We Found the Few Israelis Who Aren't Voting – and Are Willing to Talk About It
At the Aroma chain's Bat Yam cafe, the "parliaments" – the term used Israelis to describe friend groups, usually middle-aged, that gather regularly at a cafe – convened as usual on Tuesday morning. Amid conversations about polls and pollsters, a group of pensioners tried to predict the election results.
They all planned to vote for Likud, and showed interest in neighboring tables, making sure the other patrons would vote for the prime minister.
All but one, Moti, who was tired. He testified that he had voted Likud his entire life, but this time he was fed up and would not vote. "I don't believe Bibi or Gadi," he said. "I only trust God."
Like Moti, Ran is already certain: He won't vote this time either.
"I couldn't find anyone to vote for. I talked to the chat and asked it to speak in my language, and it gave me an endless chart," he said, referring to the AI text generator, ChatGPT. "But I'm exhausted. I've lost faith in the democratic game – it's a bit like choosing what color some tyrant will wear ... no one will change anything in practice."
Ran also mentioned the electoral threshold, which makes it difficult for independent candidates to run for the Knesset. "I might have found something with [far-right MK] Tally Gotliv had she run solo, as a single mandate," he sighed.
Nevertheless, some said they were undecided, or declared they would vote reluctantly only due to their family members' pleas.
Sigal Geshuri was already sitting with some friends at the Tel Aviv beach early on Tuesday morning.
"It's all a game, for show. There's no right or left in politics; no one protects individual rights," she said, recalling the state's conduct during the coronavirus pandemic.
She does intend to vote this time, but only because her son asked her to after she didn't vote last time. "No matter who gets elected, they'll still piss on what they told you on the way to the polls – they couldn't care less about you," she concluded.
A few hundred meters away, Said, 19, from Jaffa, was already working diligently at a convenience store. He was still deliberating, unsure if he would go to the polls today.
"They're all liars; I don't believe any of them. They just make promises and don't keep them," he said. He was bothered most by the cost of living, followed by the conduct of the police, whom he encountered daily.
"Every day, police officers detain me on the street," he said. "I'm a person with no criminal record and have never been arrested, yet they constantly detain me," Said added.
He pointed to the baseball cap on his head and the watch on his wrist. "Sometimes I go without them so they don't detain me."
He was still unsure if he would vote, but if he made his way to the polls, he was considering voting for the United Arab List. "They want to be part of the government, and that convinced me a bit. I don't want to vote for the Joint List because they don't have a similar desire," he said.