When Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood for his first election since October 7th, the ensuing Gaza War, and his indictment for war crimes at The Hague, Israeli citizens living overseas mobilized. Because Israel permits almost no absentee voting and because the country is experiencing acute brain drain, nearly 10% of Israel’s eligible voters now live overseas; tens of thousands of citizens bought tickets at their own expense to fly in to vote. To help voters return, the America-Israel Democracy (AID) Coalition organized charter flights, including six from New York City. Journalist Daniel Brook embedded on the first inbound flight, interviewing voters en route just days before the election.
Cognizant that Israelis who have moved abroad skew educated, secular, and anti-Netanyahu, Netanyahu’s Likud Party tried to stop the AID Coalition in court by accusing it of bribery and "vote harvesting." Israeli’s Transportation Minister, a Netanyahu ally, even reportedly considered banning charter flights entirely with the excuse that so many U.S. Air Force planes are refueling at Israel’s only international airport to bomb Iran that there is no tarmac capacity.
Brook’s article, published on The New Yorker’s website just days before the election, used the stories of plane passengers’ voting journeys as a jumping off point to examine GOTV and voter-suppression efforts looming over the pivotal election as well as the right-lurching country’s potential democratic doom loop as opponents of the authoritarian ethno-nationalism of Netanyahu leave the country while those who support it remain.
Image caption: Israeli passport and currency lay atop the Israeli national flag. Image via Shutterstock/2653832739.
