By Anav Silverman
More than 30, 000 U.S. citizens living in Israel cast their vote in this week’s midterm elections. iVoteIsrael, the leading organization facilitating American voting in Israel, has successfully completed its 2014 campaign, making voting more accessible.
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“iVoteIsrael is pleased to announce that 30, 000 Americans from 36 different states have cast their ballots in the 2014 elections from Israel, ” commented Matt Solomon, national director of iVoteIsrael. “This represents an unprecedented increase in voter participation from Israel in a non-Presidential election.”
According to iVoteIsrael, the war of words between the Obama and Netanyahu administrations that went public during the final weeks of the campaign, including accusations by the PM that Israel was being treated in an “un-American” manner, and the labeling of Bibi as “Chickenshit” by a senior Obama administration official, became a major force in turning out the expat vote.
“The public meltdown of relations by the heads of State was very distressing for American expats to witness, ” said Solomon. “Voting came to be seen as a unique outlet for American voters in Israel to proclaim their commitment to a strong US-Israel relationship, even if that is not as evident from the tone of the leadership.”
Internationally, American expats typically have less than a 1% voter turnout rate in non-Presidential elections and only 5% in Presidential elections. The 18% of eligible Americans in Israel who voted in the 2014 elections likely continued the trend of American expats from Israel leading the world in voting in American elections.
In 2012, the 80, 000 Americans who voted from Israel represented more than 25% of all overseas voters.
“This connection between countries demonstrates the breadth of the unique relationship between the two countries. iVoteIsrael is proud to have played a role in illustrating this connection to the public, ” concluded Solomon.
