‘Things aren’t so bad here,’ say voters sunning on a Tel Aviv beach

Times of Israel reporter Jacob Magid has the toughest job of all this election day — walking the beaches of Tel Aviv and quizzing people about their voting choices.

On Hilton Beach, a young couple in their 20s are unrolling their towels on beach chairs. Carmel and Elbaz joke that they’re “the only right-wingers within a few good kilometers.” He’s voting Yamina and she’s voting Likud.

“Walla, bro, things aren’t so bad here,” shrugs Elbaz. “I think this time they’ll end up having a unity government but I doubt that’ll change much.”

As they slather up their two toddler sons with suntan lotion at Mezizim Beach, Shira and Doron admit that they haven’t yet decided whom they’re voting for.

“It’s between Blue and White and Meretz (Democratic Camp), but in the end it’ll be up to Uri,” says the young mother pointing at her youngest son being lotioned by his father and holding a bag of Bamba.

Giddy with excitement, and with suntan lotion still not rubbed in on most of his face, he shouts “Gantz!”

At Frishman Beach, the Geula family from Nes Ziona is sitting around a plastic table after just having downed shots of Arak.

“Vacation day, no?” says a buzzed Shai. His wife, two brothers and sisters-in-law made the trip to the beach on the day of the April election as well.

The Geulas were divided by gender over who they were voting for, with the men supporting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and the women planning to vote for Blue and White later today.

“They pretend that it’s a gender thing, but look there are no women at the top of Gantz’s list,” says Shai.

“There are barely any women on Bibi’s list either. Just [Culture Minister] Miri Regev, and she’s nuts!” his wife, who is also named Miri, scolds.

— Jacob Magid