Tens of thousands of Israelis fly home to vote: ‘October 7 shook everyone’

With two weeks remaining until Israel's elections, tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad are planning to travel home, paying out of pocket to cast their ballots on October 27. A special panel at the People of the State conference, the flagship event of ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth, brought together Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute Yehonatan Bar Sadeh, president of FLY & VOTE, AID Coalition and Yaron Deckel, a political commentator and former head of the Jewish Agency's delegation to Canada. The discussion focused on voting rights for Israelis living abroad, disagreements over the current system and the impact of October 7. At the start of the discussion, Bar Sadeh was asked whether Israelis' willingness to spend significant sums of money to fly home and vote reflected a different attitude toward the upcoming election compared with previous ones. "Israelis living abroad have always maintained a strong connection to Israel, and we saw that on October 8, 2023, when people boarded planes, returned home and reported for reserve duty," he said. "The average Israeli living abroad starts the morning by opening an Israeli newspaper, watches the news at night and, in between, lives and breathes Israel in real time." Bar Sadeh said a survey conducted several months ago by his organization found that 84% of Israelis living abroad considered the upcoming election "critical." "What you're actually seeing is a reflection of Israeli society and that same sense of urgency," he explained. Deckel pointed to the reasons driving Israelis abroad to return home for the election. "October 7 dramatically heightened people's sense of concern and involvement," he said. "What shook Israeli society and the State of Israel also shook Jewish communities abroad and Israelis living overseas, whether they've been there for four months or 40 years. "Everyone has relatives, friends and acquaintances. That rupture, the massacre and the wars affected every Israeli, including those living abroad. The level of concern has risen dramatically, and that's why we're seeing this movement of people coming back to vote." Deckel added: "I don't like headlines calling this 'the most fateful election in the country's history,' but I think we can all agree that this is a highly significant election, the first since October 7. "We have the most right-wing government since the establishment of the state and the longest-serving prime minister, who is a controversial figure whether we like it or not. Combine that heightened concern with the legitimate sense that this is an important election, and you get the desire to come home and make a difference." The discussion also addressed whether Israel should change its voting procedures to allow citizens to vote remotely rather than requiring them to appear at polling stations inside the country. Bar Sadeh argued that the system needs to be updated. "It made sense in the 1950s, when the law was passed," he said. "Today, people don't necessarily leave the country permanently. They travel abroad. Reality has changed, and we no longer look at these people as emigrants but as Israelis whose homes just happen to be abroad." Recalling his time as a student in Jerusalem, Bar Sadeh called for a change in voting procedures. "Nobody told me I couldn't vote in Tel Aviv," he said. "Today, someone gets on a plane and goes abroad to study for a few years. You can't say that simply because a person has traveled overseas, they've lost their connection to Israel. "Take someone who goes abroad for a 10-year professional training program but returns every year for reserve duty. Would anyone say that person doesn't deserve to vote?" Plesner, asked about the Israel Democracy Institute's position, drew a distinction between two groups of Israelis living abroad. According to available figures, he said, between 700,000 and 1 million Israeli citizens live outside the country. "That's a very significant population, and we have an overriding national interest in strengthening our connection with them," he said. "But there's a big difference between that and granting blanket voting rights. I don't think that should be on the table." Plesner argued that Israelis who have permanently relocated abroad should be treated differently from those whose lives remain centered in Israel. "Even if they still feel emotionally connected to Israel, that's great. Let's maintain that connection," he said of those who have moved abroad. "But it's not right to grant them voting rights." By contrast, he said, there are "Israelis who are currently abroad but whose center of life remains in Israel. Maybe they're on an extended trip after military service, studying abroad, undergoing professional training or doing postdoctoral research." Those cases, he argued, warrant a different approach. Plesner also said Israel is at one extreme of the democratic world when it comes to voting procedures. "There's a whole range of systems around the world, and we're relatively far out on one end of the spectrum," he said. "We effectively require people to be physically present at the polling station." Deckel agreed that Israel was lagging behind technologically. "We're somewhat behind the times technologically," he said. "Other countries allow people to vote by mail or through computerized systems. They've moved forward, while Israel has remained stuck in 1948." Plesner concluded: "There are ways to fix this. We need to allow Israelis who happen to be abroad to vote as well." The discussion then turned to whether the law should be amended and how such changes could be implemented. Deckel noted that lawmakers have the authority to determine eligibility and could have ruled that Israelis who severed their residency ties with the country — meaning they stopped paying taxes and National Insurance contributions — would lose their right to vote. However, he said, lawmakers had chosen not to do so. Any new legislation, Deckel argued, should be passed through broad agreement rather than by a narrow majority of "just 61 votes" in the 120-member Knesset. Bar Sadeh warned against relying on seemingly objective criteria, such as the number of years someone has spent abroad, arguing that such measures do not necessarily reflect whether a person has genuinely severed ties with Israel. He again cited the example of someone who spends a decade abroad pursuing professional training but returns annually for reserve duty. Such a person should not lose the right to vote, he argued, raising the additional question of whether the same rules would apply to that person's spouse. Plesner said the issue had always been politically sensitive, which explained why previous efforts to reform the system had failed. He recalled that former lawmaker Shulamit Aloni attempted to advance such changes in the 1980s. In 2015, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu included the issue in coalition agreements, believing that expanding voting access for Israelis abroad would benefit his Likud party. A public committee was subsequently established and recommended allowing Israelis whose center of life remained in Israel to vote while abroad. The committee also proposed setting up polling stations at Ben Gurion Airport two weeks before elections to accommodate soldiers and travelers. Plesner cautioned against an overly broad expansion of voting access that would allow people "sitting by the water in San Francisco" to make decisions on matters of life and death affecting Israelis. Deckel countered that someone living in San Francisco might have nieces and nephews in northern Israel or grandchildren in Ofakim. "Then let them come here and vote," Plesner replied. "That's exactly what they're doing today," Deckel noted. The panel also addressed whether Israelis flying home to vote were likely to favor one side of the political spectrum. Deckel said that, according to available data, the political distribution among Israelis living abroad generally resembles that of the population in Israel. This time, however, he argued that those making the trip were predominantly liberal voters seeking to change the political landscape, a trend he said was causing concern within Likud. In such a closely contested election, Deckel said, even one or one and a half Knesset seats could prove "extremely significant," particularly with polls showing the governing coalition and opposition blocs hovering near the threshold needed to secure a parliamentary majority.