PM (Sharon) supports giving Israelis right to absentee vote

Jan. 24, 2005 19:36
PM supports giving Israelis right to absentee vote
By GIL HOFFMAN

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon supports passing a bill to allow Israelis living abroad the right to vote in Israeli elections. Sharon told the Likud faction on Monday that he supported such a bill in the past when it was raised by Moshe Arens and that the matter must be investigated.

The faction decided to appoint a high level committee to look into the issue, composed of Justice and Immigrant Absorption Minister Tzipi Livni, coalition chairman Gideon Sa'ar and Knesset Law Committee Chairman Michael Eitan. The committee will consider setting criteria necessary for voting such as serving in the IDF and recent visits to Israel.

Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres told The Jerusalem Post that allowing Israelis abroad to vote is "crazy."

"They cannot be given such rights unless they pay their debts as citizens of the state," Peres said.

I guess I agree with Shimon Peres (should this be a vanity post in breaking news?).

I really don't think that, as an American Jew, I should be able to go to Israel, demand citizenship based upon the Law of Return, register to vote and then move back to the relative safety of the US and be entitled to vote for people who will decide on matters that never touch me (Israeli security, taxation, etc.).

Same goes for Israelis who, after many years, have decided to live elsewhere. The only exceptions that I could see are for Israeli government officials and certain key employees of other companies, which should be decided on a case-by-case basis (just what Israel needs -- another bureaucracy). But of course this is just my idea, as an American living outside of Israel.

I also don't want to see groups like the American Reform Jews -- or Agudah, for that matter -- running missions to Israel to register their constituents to vote and then returning to the US to press their agendas.

I hope that this issue goes nowhere.

Then again, as an American, I don't have any say on whether Israel enacts this law, do I?

FWIW, there is already an exemption for Israelis on diplomatic postings.

In regard to both of us agreeing with Shimon Peres this time all I can say is that even a broken clock is right twice a day. Actually, I think Peres did Israel a great service in pushing for us having a nuclear deterrent. He is the architect of Dimona and for that I am grateful. He's still not someone I could ever vote for, though.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.