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Viewing cable 06TELAVIV1198, A CALM ELECTION DAY IN ISRAEL -- SHOPPING,

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06TELAVIV1198 2006-03-28 17:34 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Tel Aviv
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001198 
 
SIPDIS 
 
ABU DHABI -- PLEASE PASS TO NEA A/S WELCH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR ASEC IS GOI INTERNAL ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: A CALM ELECTION DAY IN ISRAEL -- SHOPPING, 
SAILING, AND SOME VOTING TOO (C-NE6-00442) 
 
1.  Summary:  Entering the evening hours of election day in 
Israel, the prognosticators of voter apathy are claiming 
victory.  Only 47 percent of the electorate had voted as of 
1800 (local time), by which time -- historically speaking -- 
well over half the electorate usually would have cast their 
ballots.  For example, in 2003, which marked the nadir of 
Israeli participation in Knesset elections with 69 percent 
total turnout, 54 percent of the electorate had voted by 
1800.  With four hours left until polls close, some ground 
may be made up as voters come back from the malls, the 
beaches and the bars after a day off in generally pleasant 
weather, but a low turnout in this election is all but a 
given, according to political contacts in the major parties. 
End Summary. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
THE MAJOR PARTIES DISCOURAGED BY LOW TURNOUT 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
2.  Labor Party Advisor Oriella Ben-Zvi told poloff that she 
was with Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz in the south, and 
that in certain places, such as his hometown of Sderot, 
Peretz had been very warmly received.  She said that in the 
smaller localities, where people know each other, the turnout 
is much better than in the cities.  Overall, however, the 
voter turnout was not as good as they had hoped for, 
according to Ben-Zvi.  She assessed that many of Kadima's 
supporters, as well, may not be motivated enough to vote.  In 
contrast, she said, supporters of smaller parties are more 
motivated.  She said that she had heard a lot of talk while 
she traveled that the small Pensioners' party is taking votes 
away from Labor.  She speculated that the main headlines 
tomorrow would be about what she anticipates will be a the 
historically low voter turnout.  Oren Helman, a Likud 
advisor, and Likud Central Committee member David Sharan 
echoed this assessment in separate discussions with poloff. 
Kadima organizer Yaron Sharaby told poloff that total turnout 
would definitely be lower than in 2003.  While not upbeat, 
Sharaby confided that he thought Kadima would come out "all 
right."  Yohanan Plesner, a Kadima candidate on the cusp -- 
slot 32 -- told Haaretz that "we have between 33 and 40 
seats."  Plesner's aide told poloff that Kadima activists are 
heading to the malls to get out the vote. 
 
------------------------------------ 
ATMOSPHERICS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY 
------------------------------------ 
 
3.  Israelis in the greater Tel Aviv area went for walks, 
visited malls in the Herzliya suburb and downtown Dizengoff 
center to profit from special election-day discounts, and 
practiced kite-sailing along the coastal beaches in sunny 
weather that defied projections of rain.  These diversions 
account in large part for the Israeli preference to vote in 
the evening. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
No Arab boycott, but turnout no better than the norm... 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
4.  Post's PD Arabic-speaking FSN in Nazareth reported 
general calm in what is the largest Arab-Israeli city in 
Israel.  Israeli-Arab voter participation, at mid-afternoon, 
mirrored national averages.  Azmi Bishara's Balad party 
reportedly hired buses to bring thousands of Israeli Arabs 
from their studies in Jordan home to vote in Israel.  While 
some small villages, such as the Druze village of Isfiya, in 
the Upper Galilee, reported below-average turnouts, 
participation in other, larger cities, such as Haifa, tracked 
with that of Nazareth, according to Arabic print media.  The 
Mayor of Sakhnin, Mohammed Bashar, told poloff that the voter 
turnout by late afternoon in Sakhnin was only 30 percent and 
characterized the situation of low voter turnout as bad for 
Arab parties.  In Jaffa, a mixed Jewish-Arab city that was 
the scene of scuffles last week between Arabs and right-wing 
Jewish extremists from the Herut Party who were raising money 
to finance Israeli Arab emigration from Israel, the situation 
is calm.  The only political noise reported was from the Shas 
party, which has tried to gain supporters from beyond its 
ultra-Orthodox corner. 
 
----------------------------------- 
The Russians Still Prefer Lieberman 
----------------------------------- 
 
5.  The southern port city of Ashdod is home to a mostly 
Russian-speaking immigrant community.  A Russian-speaking 
econoff who visited several polling stations observed both 
families and many under-30 voters coming to vote.  Here, too, 
the participation rate by mid-afternoon mirrored national 
averages, according FSN contacts.  Post's Russian-speaking PD 
FSN who lives in Ashdod reported that this election was 
calmer than most -- both on the street and in the 
Russian-language media.  Like their more affluent, native 
brethren in the Tel Aviv suburbs, many Russian-speaking 
immigrant families headed for the malls before heading to 
vote, according to the FSN.  A baker confided to her that 
going to work provided him with a good excuse not to vote. 
Avigdor Lieberman's name and party (Yisrael Beiteinu) was on 
the mind of many Russian-speakers, according to the FSN's 
anecdotal surveys, but the noise heard most in the streets 
came from the ultra-Orthodox, mostly-Sephardic Shas party. 
In the Russian area of Bat Yam, closer to Tel Aviv, older 
voters told a Russian-speaking consoff that they would vote 
for Lieberman, whom they described as a "man of action." 
Other Russian voters told consoffs that they would vote 
Kadima as a protest against "the politicians," namely, they 
said, Likud Party Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu. 
--------------------- 
Anti-Zionists protest 
--------------------- 
 
7.  Israeli media have covered extensively the disturbances 
by some 30 anti-Zionist, ultra-Orthodox protesters in Beit 
Shemesh.  These anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox were forcibly 
removed from a polling station after they reportedly urged 
voters not to cast their ballots in the Israeli elections. 
In other ultra-Orthodox communities, such as Bnei Brak, 
Embassy officers report the active participation of rabbis 
telling people to vote for the mostly Azkhenazi Torah and 
Shabbat Judaism party (former UTJ).  In Bnei Brak, the 
anti-Zionist impact was limited to a few empty voting 
stations. 
 
********************************************* ******************** 
Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv 
 
You can also access this site through the State Department's 
Classified SIPRNET website. 
********************************************* ******************** 
JONES