There is a right way and a wrong way to be a brave, dedicated Zionist right here in Israel. The wrong way is … to vote. Only on Election Day.
What?? Voting is wrong?? Yes, if you vote only on Election Day it's partly wrong. Because a little, modest event that happens way before that and is called “the Likud primaries" decides who you even get to choose from, come Election Day.
“Never heard of Likud primaries - what is it??" Read on. You’re not alone. Likud primaries are internal elections that decide who represents Likud, often Israel’s ruling and dominant party - and in what order. High placement of a certain candidate means s/he is almost guaranteed to be a Knesset member, whereas low placement means this person is unlikely to enter the Knesset.
Why does this matter so much, are there not other parties which hold primaries? Yes, there are. But the Likud is by far the largest party; it is a governing party. So if you intend to vote Likud, sign up for the “Likud primaries", you are influencing the identity of over 20 Knesset members, perhaps more. You have more influence than actual Election Day has, because the Election Day results only affects a few spots at the bottom of each party’s list. And, in the Likud primaries, you are also deciding which leaders will get a top-10 spot - which usually translates to senior influence or ministerial positions.
And most important, when ideological voters join Likud (usually via Yehuda-Shomron channels, although each voter votes in her or his own home town), they also directly change the ideological balance inside Israel’s number 1 party - for the better.
So Likud is one of the most “democratic" parties there is. But only internally -only if you’re a member. If you’re not, you vote after all the real sorting has already happened. Because by the time Election Day arrives, the options are already narrowed. If you didn’t vote in the primaries, on Election Day you can merely choose between candidates you had no say in selecting.
Also, because voter turnout in primaries is so low -your vote counts much more. Far fewer people vote in primaries than in general elections. Because only if they sign up in advance, are they eligible for Likud voting rights. The unprepared, un-knowledgeable general public is not entitled to participate at the last minute. So if you become aware of this situation, which is why I am writing this article, and you sit down at your computer to sign up for voting rights in advance, you become part of a small elite which decides. Motivated people can strongly influence outcomes - it’s high-level accountability.
And primaries don’t just pick candidates - they decide which issues matter, because politicians pay very close attention to who votes in primaries. They know who signed up. Primary voters get listened to. They elicit accountability. So skipping primaries means skipping your chance to influence policy..
Why is it that so many people don’t vote in primaries, then? Because many people don’t know primaries matter. Because primaries are poorly advertised, or not at all, and occur separately from general elections. People don’t happen to know anyone who can tell them how to sign up. Or, people they think that the real decision is on election day - not realizing that in many respects the primary already determines the winners. Or, people feel being influential is not “for them" - because they fear going into a voting hall where they don’t know anyone personally.
Yes, it is sometimes a bit nerve-wracking to walk into a room where you know no-one and people don’t seem like your type. But if you let these people who don’t seem like your type determine who the Knesset members are going to be, the Knesset members won’t be your type either. That’s why its better to be courageous - like Israel’s brave soldiers - and vote in the primaries anyway. Yes, even if you don’t know Hebrew very well.
The last fear people have, is that they don’t want to vote “blind", so they opt out entirely.
Fortunately however, there is no need for any ideological voter to vote blindly. To the contrary - there is the Mattot Arim Parliamentary Achievement Report, for ideological voters. It records which candidates did what, over their several-year term in the Knesset, from a right-wing viewpoint. The Mattot Arim Report also records which candidates did hardly anything, and there are candidates like that. Anyone can sign up to get a copy of the Mattot Arim Report by email - which, not coincidentally, comes out right on time, just before the primaries.
So now you know how things work. In Israel, not obtaining primary voting rights gives away power that could be yours, to insiders who are sometimes not your kind of people. Who do not share your ideological views. Who are in politics only for themselves. If you don’t participate, others decide for you. Take the Jewish people’s future into your own ideological hands, and do the right thing. You’ll never regret it.
Susie Dym (mattot arim at gmail) is spokesperson for Mattot Arim, an Israeli NGO working toward peace-for-peace since 1992.