Hostage Advocacy Networks Mobilize Israelis to Vote

Thousands of Israelis living in the United States are organizing trips to vote in Israel’s October 27 election. They’re drawing on activist networks that turned to hostage advocacy after Hamas’s October 2023 invasion. Israel doesn’t allow absentee voting except for diplomats and emissaries posted abroad, so citizens aged 18 and older who live overseas can vote only if they’re in Israel on Election Day.

AID Coalition, a nonpartisan U.S. nonprofit focused on Israeli democracy, estimated that 53,000 Israelis living abroad would travel to vote. The group based its estimate on an August survey of 17,500 respondents, then extrapolated the result. Its CEO, Batell Vallentine Blaish-Sultanik, said no comparable data set exists for earlier elections. The coalition’s Fly&Vote initiative shares information about polling locations and voting requirements and has helped arrange travel, including from Lisbon, Portugal.

Networks Shifted to Hostage Advocacy

The organizing networks first grew after anti-government Israelis in New York City began protesting in January 2023 against the newly elected government’s judicial overhaul plans. Activists called their efforts a “hide and seek” game, bringing thousands together to confront coalition ministers in public. Protests during the United Nations General Assembly in September 2023 brought Israelis and allies into the streets, including Times Square.

After Hamas’s invasion, the networks raised funds, sent supplies to soldiers and civilians, and advocated for hostages abducted to Gaza. Their actions included a rally outside the home of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. An anonymous group had projected an anti-Netanyahu message onto U.N. Headquarters during the September 2023 General Assembly; weeks later, it used the same equipment to project images of Israeli hostages.

Since the final hostages were released last year, activists have shifted their focus back to Israeli politics. They’ve organized phone-banking calls to Israel, surveys of expatriate voters, election information sessions on Zoom and calls to vote. Flags bearing the national anthem’s phrase “free in our land” have appeared at protests against the judicial overhaul, rallies for Israel and the hostages, and demonstrations against Netanyahu.

AID Coalition formed in June 2023 to strengthen and preserve Israel’s democratic foundations. After October 7, it coordinated support for victims, including therapy for survivors in southern Israel, and co-produced the documentary “Children of October 7th.” Blaish-Sultanik said the coalition “does not represent any political side.” She added that it seeks “to enable citizens who have the right to vote to make their voices heard and to encourage the broadest possible civic participation.”

A Divided Electorate and Coalition Stakes

The groups organizing in the United States aren’t politically uniform. Israelis for Peace in New York focuses more on Palestinian war casualties, while UnXeptable focuses more on Israeli politics; some people join both. The Israeli-led groups appear to oppose Netanyahu, although pro-Netanyahu activists also demonstrate in the United States. Organizers say standard Israeli polls don’t survey expatriates flying in to vote, so their impact remains uncertain.

Maya Ben-Meir, an Israeli musician who moved to the United States 13 years ago, said people in her circles were talking about returning to vote, often in chat groups left over from the judicial overhaul protests. “We’re really good at organizing,” she said. Ben-Meir said the impetus among her circles was “absolutely because of Netanyahu.” She faulted him for opposing a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 invasion, failing to take personal responsibility for the attack and contributing to domestic turmoil before the war.

In a separate coalition dispute, Netanyahu met Moti Leitner, head of the new ultra-Orthodox Charedi Public party, in Petah Tikva on Tuesday night, according to reports by Ynet and Haaretz. Netanyahu reportedly offered to advance policies important to the party and appoint Leitner special adviser for ultra-Orthodox affairs in the next government if Leitner withdrew from the race. Leitner said he would stay in the contest and did not feel he had the “moral right” to quit. Charedi Public was expected to fall below the 3.25% electoral threshold, potentially leaving its votes unrepresented if it failed to enter the Knesset.

Ofer Winter said he would stay in the race for the 26th Knesset election and support only a government that drafted Haredim and did not submit to the sector’s demands. He said his People of Israel party was committed to servicemen and fighters. Winter’s party had hovered near the threshold in recent polls. Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich met Rabbi Eli Sadan, Winter’s spiritual mentor, to press him to withdraw.

The election has also prompted debate over responsibility for the October 7 failure. Opinion writer Daniel Goldman said Netanyahu and his partners had resisted calls for a state commission of inquiry and sought to blame the army, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), protesters, the legal system and the previous government. Goldman named Be’eri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz and Ofakim among the communities where, he wrote, Hamas terrorists inflicted violence unopposed for hours. His account argues for leadership change; it isn’t a finding by a commission of inquiry.