Israel’s far right find fertile ground among first-time voters

More than half a million first-time voters will cast their ballots in this election, which many Israelis see as existential for Israel’s future security and identity.

Polls suggest it will be a tight race, and the new young voters could help decide the result.

More than 16% are planning to support far-right parties – either Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power or the Religious Zionism party of his far-right ally Bezalel Smotrich – according to a poll for one of Israel’s most popular newspapers, Yedioth Ahronoth.

And almost three-quarters see themselves as “right or centre-right”, according to another survey for Israel’s leading Channel 12 television network.

“Itamar Ben Gvir gives me a sense of security,” said 20-year-old Mordechai, one of the young fans accompanying the politician to Ramle.

“Like everyone in history, from Trump to Moses, there are slips of the tongue that are a bit less good. So what? 90% of the things by Itamar are amazing.”

“Itamar will give us safety, and when we go to the army, someone will have our backs and be behind us,” said 18-year-old Nadav.

“I think he’s trying to show that we’re a strong country. For many years, we couldn’t show we’re strong in our beliefs. We couldn’t express our ideology.”

Meir Schreiber, an ultra-Orthodox 23-year-old who grew up in London, said the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel, which triggered the Gaza war, also convinced him that Ben Gvir was the right choice.

“Young people understand that peace isn’t something we can do,” he told me, “because what happens to you when you’re young shapes your personality – we saw October 7.”