Netanyahu’s Likud party has reportedly recorded messages in advance of Tuesday’s elections warning of high voter turnout in “left-wing strongholds” and among Arab Israelis.
According to a report Monday in the Haaretz daily, the messages are set to be sent to hundreds of thousands of Israelis at 4:30 p.m. on election day as part of a Likud effort to boost right-wing turnout.
Ahead of the vote, the ruling party categorized cities and population groups by the number of Likud supporters and gathered phone numbers to send the messages to, the newspaper reports.
“From examinations we’re doing in real time, there is a significantly low voter turnout in your area. You must leave your house now. You can’t be complacent,” one of the messages reportedly says.
In past election campaigns, Netanyahu has frequently warned of low voting levels among right-wingers and high turnout among Arab and left-wing voters, a tactic aimed at swelling support for Likud.
On election day in 2015, Netanyahu released a video saying Arab voters were going in “droves” to voting stations and that left-wing NGOs were busing them there. He later apologized for the remarks, which were perceived as racist.
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From the Liveblog of
Monday, September 16, 2019
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