Voting Rights

In Israel, unlike most Western countries, only those physically present in the country on election day are allowed to vote, with the exception of a small group of public officials. Ahead of the upcoming election cycle, a debate is emerging over organized flights bringing Israelis from abroad to vote, and whether this constitutes illegal election financing. Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel...

Decisions made in Israel affect not only its citizens, but also millions of Jews around the world, while Israel still does not allow its citizens to vote from abroad. If Israel is the national home of the Jewish people, it is time to open the ballot boxes first to every Israeli citizen wherever they are, and later to the Jews of the Diaspora.

Following the government's decision not to place polling stations in nursing homes that are not geriatric facilities, Adi Israeli launched an initiative to accompany and transport the elderly and people with mobility issues to vote. Within weeks, over 7,000 volunteers have registered.

For young people it is a short walk, for 90-year-olds it is a complex operation of transport and walkers. Tens of thousands of elderly people are struggling against the decision not to place polling stations in the institutions where they live and are not willing to give up: "Do not bury us while we are alive."