In mixed Arab-Jewish Lod, voters ponder far-right and radical left

Voters in the sprawling open-air market in Lod reflect the broadest possible range of political positions on election day, and express intentions to vote for far-right Religious Zionism, the radical anti-Zionist Balad faction, and numerous parties between those extremes.

“I voted for Religious Zionism because for me the most important thing is the Jewish identity of the country,” says Yishai Lavi.

“It should be clear that this is a Jewish country, people who are against the State of Israel should not be partners in the coalition… in general the state should openly be a Jewish state.”

Lavi opines that relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel are fine, gesturing towards the diverse nature of customers rubbing shoulders in the market and commenting, “We live together, but it should be clear this is a Jewish state.”

Ahmad Mansour says he has yet to vote and is not sure if he will vote at all. But if he does, he will choose between Balad and Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am party.

“Prices need to be brought down — the cost of living is too high, property is too expensive,” he says, but adds he does not have much faith that politicians will be effective in achieving this goal.

Mansour says he is not worried by the rise of the far-right Religious Zionist party and that he does not believe it will be able to implement its most extreme policies.

Meanwhile, David Harhouhli, a shoe vendor in the market, says he is voting for the ultra-Orthodox Shas party although he says that it doesn’t represent him.

“I vote for them only because I want there to be here a little bit of Torah, a bit of proper behavior. But I don’t believe in them, I don’t know who they are, but I want a religious party so that this country has something of a Jewish character,” says Harhouhli.