OneVoice Movement

OneVoice Youth Leader Among New Members of Israeli Knesset

Israel’s recent elections dramatically cemented Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s mandate to draw finite defensible territorial borders and pursue a de-facto two-state separation. Rooted in the vision ushered by former PM Ariel Sharon, a strong supra-majority endorsed evacuating settlements from the Palestinian territories – a firm and historic rejection of absolutist visions informed by sobering pragmatism. This plan will only accelerate after Tuesday’s terrorist attack that left 9 citizens dead and 60 wounded without any condemnation from the Hamas-led government.

 

Nine OneVoice Israeli Board members were elected into the Israeli Knesset, representing a broad political spectrum, from Kadima to Labor, from Shas to the Arab Democratic Party. See who they are and which parties they belong to.

http://blog.onevoicemovement.org/one_voice/2006/04/onevoice_board_.html  

 

And outstandingly, one of the leaders of the OneVoice Youth Leadership Council, Yoel Hasson, was also elected into the Knesset. Yoel was chairman of Likud Next Generation and later, when the party split, he became chairman of KADIMA’s Next Generation. As a member of the Political Leaders Council in the OneVoice Youth Leadership Program, Yoel was instrumental in several of the initiatives undertaken by OneVoice Israel over the last 18 months.

 

See Break-Down of Election Results According to Camps. 

http://blog.onevoicemovement.org/one_voice/2006/04/breakdown_of_is.html  

 

What Path Now: Unilateral Steps vs. Negotiations?

http://blog.onevoicemovement.org/one_voice/2006/04/what_path_now_u.html  

 

Low Voter Turnout

A worrisome facet of the most recent elections was the low turnout: only 63.2 percent of Israel's approximately 5 million voters went to the polls, the lowest turnout ever for an Israeli parliamentary election. http://blog.onevoicemovement.org/one_voice/2006/04/low_voter_turno.html  

 

This is reflective of a dangerous trend towards apathy and escapism, where citizens “sign-off” from participating in the political process. Two of the factors behind this are a) overall hopelessness and a belief that no solutions exist to existentialist problems; and b) a trend towards believing citizens don’t have a role to play and that decisions are made within “the corridors of power” by a political elite increasingly perceived as corrupt, self indulgent and detached from the concerns of the people.

 

OneVoice Poll: Youth Apathy/Disconnect

Recognizing the problem is particularly acute with young voters, OneVoice-Israel commissioned a poll to raise awareness about the challenges. Poll results showed a big indifference among young people (ages 18-32), especially among those holding moderate or “centrist” views: 

 

• Only 44% of young people eligible to vote said that they would go out and vote. Among women and among moderates the percentages were even lower. 

• Only 27% of young people expressed any “interest” in the elections and only 36% felt that their vote could have an influence. 

• 20% admitted that they learn about politics from the top-rated political satire TV show “Eretz Nehederet” (akin to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart).

 

The survey became a hot topic in Israel and received wide coverage. Over 40 interviews were held with OneVoice activists and staff members. 

Radio, http://www.benor.co.il/monitoring/Clippings/One%20Voice/2006/March/(One%20Voice)%20Channel%20Two%208Mar06.wma,

newspaper, http://www.benor.co.il/monitoring/Clippings/One%20Voice/2006/March/(One%20Voice)%20Yedoit%20Mar08-06.jpg,

and tv programs http://www.benor.co.il/monitoring/Clippings/One%20Voice/2006/March/(OneVoice)%20Channel%2099%2022Mar06-2.wmv

explored the apathy of young people.

 

OneVoice Get-Out-the-Vote Pro-Moderation Campaign

In this context, One-Voice Israel organized a two-month intensive Get-Out-The-Vote Campaign to increase turnout targeted at mainstream youth with the motto “If you won’t vote, the extremists will vote for you.”

 

Events included outreach to night life areas such as the Tel Aviv Seaport, Haifa’s Moria Street, Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University cafes, and Beersheba’s Chika and BGU-centric bars, where the Youth chairs of some of the largest parties – including Kadima, Labor, Likud, Shinui and Meretz – together with 160 of OneVoice and political activists wearing OneVoice shirts – handed out night-life-party-like “invitations” to get out and vote that said: “Don’t let the extremists vote for you.” Coffee was served with the motto: “wake up and protect your rights.” http://www.onevoice.org.il/email/email_070306.html

 

On the day of the election, two OneVoice mini vans drove between Tel Aviv and Hertzliya and urged moderates not to stay home. 

 

Two video clips were also released that generated a lot of buzz.

• an animated clip juxtaposing inactive moderates laying back on the beach vis a vis well-mobilized extremists. http://onevoice.org.il/media/voice_movie.swf  

 

• a 2 minutes video clip by Eyal Kitizs & Tal Friedman, the stars of Eretz Nehederet, the highest-rated TV show in Israel that youth state they get their news from - calling on young people to vote. http://www.onevoice.org.il/email/email_260306.html  

See also the NRG interview - http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART1/062/197.html for http://onevoice.org.il/media/ov_tal_eyal.wmv

 

An estimated 1 million people were exposed to the internet campaign which besides the vide clips included a banner campaign in Israel’s leading websites frequented by youth ages 21-35. A total of 31,379 new visitors registered on the OneVoice Israel website. 

Animated Banner: If moderates don’t vote, extremists will fill the void: http://www.onevoice.org.il/everybody.html  

 

OV Israeli Monthly news update, including items on various activities - http://www.onevoice.org.il/email/email_100306.html  

 

 

In the end, while turn out was very low, this time the mainstream majority showed up at the polls and a firm mandate against extremist positions was achieved. The incoming Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has been a staunch friend of OneVoice and he has taken a pragmatic path towards a very complex and intricate situation. The enormous challenge now is to prevent spoilers from derailing the hopes of millions, and to empower citizens to recognize that not only they have the power to positively influence the process, but that their hopes will not be achieved without them buttressing and propelling their elected leaders to reach a negotiated comprehensive and final resolution to the conflict.

 

This report was prepared with the support of OV Leadership Director Dr. Muli Peleg and OV Executive Director Gil Shamy.

OneVoice Board Members Elected into Israeli Knesset

OneVoice Israeli Honorary Board Members Elected into the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) Listed in Alphabetical Order – with party affiliation:

1. Collette Avital, re-elected, Labor Party

2. Avishay Braverman, fmr President of Ben Gurion University, newly elected, Labor

3. Rabbi Nissim Dahan, re-elected, Shas

4. Taleb El Sanea, re-elected, Arab Democratic Party

5. Rabbi Michael Melcior, re-elected, Labor-Meimad Party

6. Prof. Uriel Reichman, fmr President of Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, newly elected, Kadima

7. Ephraim Sneh, re-elected, Labor

8. Matan Vilnai, former IDF General, re-elected, Labor

 

In addition – one of OneVoice’s Youth Leaders - Yoel Hasson, former Chair of Kadima Next Generation and an active leader in OneVoice – was newly elected to the Knesset, with Kadima.

 

Unfortunately two exemplary Honorary Board members were not re-elected because their parties did not receive enough mandates: Gila Finkelstein, from the National Religious Party; and Eti Livny, from Shinui Party.

Breakdown of Israel Election Results According to Camps

Final election results:

The parties firmly supporting PM Ehud Olmert’s vision of evacuating isolated settlements include Kadima (29 seats), Labor (20), Meretz (5), the Pensioners (7), the United Arab List (3), Hadash (3), and Balad (3). These represent 70 seats, or 58.3% of Knesset seats.

In addition, Shas (12 seats), United Torah Judaism (6) and the hawkish but unpredictable Yisrael Beiteinu (11) have all expressed willingness to join the government and can be expected to behave pragmatically on the question of withdrawal. These represent another 29 seats (24.1%).

Those that firmly rejected the Gaza disengagement and any future disengagement include Likud (12) and National Union-National Religious Party (9). They captured together 21 seats or 17.5% of seats. In 2003, parties on the right and religious parties dominated the Knesset with 69 seats out of 120 and commanded 57.5% of the popular vote. 

The sharp contrast is best evinced by noting that the Likud of Benyamin Netanyahu in 2006 won 12 seats compared to the 40 seats that a Likud under the Sharon of 2003 received. The “old” Sharon had won a strong mandate that included an edict that Gaza settlements would not be evacuated. The “new” Sharon and his successors firmly recognized that a withdrawal was in Israel’s best interest and the country agreed.

What Path Now: Unilateral Steps Vs. Negotiations?

The quest towards a two-state solution is premised on enlightened self-interest, consistent with polls showing that 76% of Palestinians and Israelis have been staunchly supporting a two-state solution for several years now. Most do so not because of moral empathy but because of pragmatic recognition that this is the only way to start building a better future for their offspring.

 

But the election results also reflected exhaustion with the bilateral peace-process and fear that, with Hamas in control of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Israel needs to take its own steps to disengage from the Palestinian territories.

 

The latest terrorist attack that killed 9 civilians and wounded 90 in the middle of Tel Aviv has caused additional consternation because the Hamas-led government not only refused to condemn the act but called it an act of self-defense, and when President Mahmoud Abbas condemned it, he faced a lot of criticism from young militants demanding he instead condemn Israel’s occupation.

 

Recognizing that unilateral moves are not sufficient to achieve long-term peace, in his victory speech Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held out hope that the right conditions would enable him to sit with President Mahmoud Abbas to negotiate an end to the conflict.

 

But more recently, Olmert has stated that "Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] has deprived himself of all the practical authorities of government," and indicated that negotiations would "have to be [with] those in government, on condition that they meet the requirements of the roadmap and the Quartet: no violence; recognition of the State of Israel; acceptance of all the former agreements that were signed by the Palestinian Authority."

 

It is unclear – indeed unlikely at least in the near term – whether those conditions will be met by the Hamas government.

 

President Mahmoud Abbas has warned Israel against going at it alone and insisted that this will only cause a war within 10 years, as the Palestinian people grow restive and realize their hopes are not being met. He insists Olmert should take no unilateral actions and instead negotiate with him. Again, it is very unlikely that Olmert would not pursue these unilateral steps, which are seen by the supra-majority of the Israeli people as vital to their security.

 

Left to their own situations, then, Olmert and Abbas – both exceptional leaders with sincere determination to achieve peace – will not be able to drive towards negotiations because of “spoilers” – not just the Hamas rejectionists, but in this case possibly also by Al Aqsa Brigades and Islamic Jihad terrorists intent on showing they can be holier terrorists than Hamas was when Fatah was governing. 

 

The voice of the people can be vital in breaking the deadlock and propelling leaders to follow the will of their people. For example, a clear constituency pushing for negotiations could push Hamas to either be accountable to the will of its people or to face a disappointed electorate, which could also buttress President Abbas to take bolder actions that could set the stage for bilateral negotiations – with similar prodding from the Israeli electorate under the right conditions.

Low Voter Turnout

The persistent trend of the declining voting rate is not new and not necessarily Israeli. However, in a land where the most crucial issues, such as the territorial boundaries and the character of society are still debatable, the shrinkage of the body politics is particularly detrimental.