From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Knesset passes preliminary reading of bill to allow soldiers to vote in Israeli elections from Gaza
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
A bill allowing Israel Defense Forces soldiers to vote in municipal elections from the field, including areas outside of the territory of the State of Israel such as the Gaza Strip, passes its first of three readings in the Knesset.
The legislation, proposed by National Unity MKs Michael Biton and Ze’ev Elkin, would also allow soldiers to cast their ballots in special polling places a week ahead of the election in order to “ensure that every soldier, in regular service or in active reserve service, will be able to vote.”
Late last month, the cabinet voted unanimously to postpone nationwide municipal elections until February 27, 2024, as the ongoing Israel-Hamas war continues to present challenges in holding the ballot.
At the time, the IDF informed the government that 688 reservists standing as candidates would “most likely” not be able to be released from duty to conduct their campaigns should the vote be held in January, following an earlier postponement of the October elections in the wake of Hamas’ onslaught.
The inability of Israel’s soldiers to vote while in Gaza was brought up by the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party’s leader Avigdor Liberman earlier this week as one of the reasons not to hold a general election despite his opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.
“Do we set up a ballot box in Khan Younis?” he asked.
