Mock elections at local high school – young Israelis don't care
Pic: Ofer Amram
Only 44% of young Israelis plan to vote
New survey shows Israelis aged 18-32 indifferent ahead of upcoming elections
The general elections are three weeks away, but young Israeli voters are not particularly excited by the upcoming vote, a new survey shows.
A special poll by the Kol Ehad (One Voice) movement show worrying figures: Most young voters today are not at all interested in the elections, Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
The poll, conducted by the Maagar Mohot Institute, found that among 503 Israelis aged 18-32, only 44 percent are planning to cast their ballots on Election Day.
Females and immigrants display an even greater level of apathy: 59 percent of young women and 72 percent of immigrants said they are not planning to vote.
Some 52 percent of respondents – 77 percent of them secular - admitted that the elections did not interest them.
About 39 percent said they thought their vote would not influence the results.
On another front, roughly 19 percent of respondents said their main source of information on politicians is satirical hit television show Eretz Nehederet ("It's a wonderful country.")
The poll also exposed a large degree of ignorance among respondents regarding local politicians. When asked to name the current foreign minister, 27 percent said they had no idea, 11 percent thought it was Ehud Olmert, and 4 percent were convinced that it was Shimon Peres. Only 41 percent answered correctly, naming Tzipi Livni.
