This week, Israel goes to the polls. The election campaign in the past months was conducted on two separate floors.

On the brightly lit upper floor the Israeli public is split and polarized between two evenly-matched camps, headed for a decision by a hair's-breadth majority.

One bloc seeks to Return Netanyahu to power, along with his partners from the extreme right and the even more extreme right. The other bloc Is determined to stop Netanyahu and protect what remains of Israeli democracy. 

While this struggle rages on the top floor, a completely different struggle Is underway in the dark basement. In the Occupied Territories, only the settlers have the vote. They will go to polling stations In their fortified enclaves. Many of them will vote for the extreme right. 

All around them are millions of Palestinians who have no share In Israel’s democracy. For the last 55 years they have lived under a tough and brutal military dictatorship imposed on them by the government that the Israelis elect. Exactly when the Israelis go to the polls, young Palestinians take up arms, in rebellion against occupation and oppression. Only a few in the Israeli political system dare to point out the direct connection between the oppression in the Occupied Territories and the threat to democracy In Israel itself. 

These voices must be sustained and strengthened In the elections on November 1. 

Gush Shalom statement, Oct. 31. 2022

ENDS

For more information, contact Adam Keller +972-(0)54-2340749

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