The Economist: More than 50,000 Israelis living in America are expected to return to the country to participate in the elections. It is reasonable to assume that a large part of them are inclined to parties that oppose Netanyahu

A large number of Israelis living abroad return to the country to participate in the elections; Many of them have serious motives for political settlement.

The Economist wrote: A large number of Israelis living abroad return to the country to participate in the elections; Many of them have serious motives for political settlement.

According to the selection report, this article continues: ROI SARIG (ROI SARIG) in London is almost as Israeli as possible. He was born in a kibbutz and his family has roots that go back to before the independence of Israel; An event he celebrates every year. Sarig closely follows the news and politics of Israel, travels to this country regularly and plans to return to it one day. However, in the 22 years she has lived in Britain, her husband's native country, she has never voted in an Israeli election.

He says: "It wasn't that I wanted to distance myself from my Israeli identity; But I believed that since I don't live there, it is not right for me to vote."

However, this year he will fly to Israel on October 27 to do exactly that.

He is by no means alone. Across the large communities of Jews and Israelis abroad, in recent weeks the topic of conversation around the dinner table and in synagogues has been about who is returning to the country to vote.

According to Israel's election laws, only a limited group of citizens and their families, including diplomats and staff at the Jewish Agency, the main body responsible for promoting "aliya" — the Hebrew term for Jewish immigration to Israel — can vote at the country's embassies outside of Israel. Except for Israelis living in the occupied territories of the West Bank, other people should return to Israel to exercise their democratic right.

It is not possible to say with certainty how many of them will return to the country, but it seems that their number is unprecedented. The Aid Coalition, an American non-profit group that focuses on promoting democracy in Israel, predicts that more than 50,000 Israelis living in the United States will return to the country to participate in the elections.

The electoral competition may be very close. According to our poll monitoring system, the Likud party led by Benjamin Netanyahu and the new Yashar party led by Gadi Eysenkot are moving shoulder to shoulder with each other.

Dalia Sheindlin, political strategist and pollster, believes that every 40,000 votes a party gets this year can lead to winning one of the 120 seats in the Knesset, Israel's parliament. Of course, this ratio changes depending on the amount of participation and the share of each party from the votes taken.

No one knows how Israelis living abroad will vote, but it is reasonable to assume that a large part of them will lean towards parties that oppose Likud; Because, according to Scheindlin, "major efforts to help people return are taking place mainly in liberal circles."

Many of those who intend to return participated in the 2023 protests against Netanyahu's judicial reforms; Reforms that were considered an attack on Israel's democracy.

The government's failure to prevent Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023 and the way the war in Gaza is progressing has also increased their anger.

"For Israelis abroad, watching this has been like watching a car accident in slow motion," said Jenny Kananoff, an Israeli co-founder of the UK-based We Democracy network, which has supported the pro-democracy movement in Israel.

"Some feel that this is their last chance to somehow make things right," he adds.