640,000 young Israelis set to vote in Tuesday election
Nearly 10% of the electorate could decide up to 12 Knesset seats, with national security and cost of living driving their choices.
By Hiroshi Sato ·
Yael Chernyvsky, 18, will cast her first ballot in Ramat Hasharon on October 27. The Ramat Hasharon resident is part of a cohort of 640,000 Israelis aged 18 to 22 eligible to vote in Tuesday's election. According to the Israel Democracy Institute, this group represents nearly 10% of the total electorate. Their collective choice could determine as many as 12 seats in the 120-member Knesset.
Chernyvsky, who is studying in an army preparation program in the Negev, plans to vote for an opposition party in the change bloc. She has not selected a specific party but indicated she will likely support either the Democrats led by Yair Golan or Yashar led by Gadi Eisenkot. She cited the long tenure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the ongoing war as primary reasons for her stance.
Tammy Hoffman, head of the education policy program at the Israel Democracy Institute, stated that high turnout among this age group is expected. A survey by her team found that 80% to 95% of potential young Jewish and Arab voters said they would definitely or likely vote. Secular Jewish youth showed the highest certainty, while 87% of Arab respondents intended to vote. This figure exceeds the 47% youth turnout in the United States during the 2024 presidential election.
National security and the cost of living emerged as the top priorities for both Jewish and Arab youth in the polls. Hoffman noted that this generation has experienced the pandemic, judicial reform protests, and the October 7 attacks during their adolescence. While Jewish Israeli voters have historically shifted rightward, Hoffman observed that military service does not automatically produce a nationalist stance. It can also raise questions about the goals of the war.
A September 23 poll by N12 found that 74% of young people described their views as right-wing or center-right. If the election were held then, 16% would have voted for Eisenkot's Yashar party and 14% for Netanyahu's Likud. Hoffman pointed to mock elections in high schools where the majority of students voted for Yashar or Beyachad, an opposition party led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, rather than Likud or Itamar Ben-Gvir's far-right party.
Individual motivations vary across the demographic. Omer Gross, 18, from Jerusalem, plans to vote for the Religious Zionist party despite criticizing Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's policies in Gaza. He supports Smotrich's stance in the West Bank. Tomer Shiloh, also 18, is voting for the change bloc, specifically Eisenkot or Bennett, and wants the next government to mandate military service for Haredi men and lower living costs.
Khalel Alaa Sabeh, 18, from Shef-Amra, intends to vote for an Arab party to address resource gaps and crime in the Arab community. He urged his friends to vote, stating he wants change and does not want four more years under the current government. Regardless of the outcome, Sabeh said he will not leave the country.
Source: The Jerusalem Post
