US students in Israel mark Election Day

American students living in Israel say they miss hometown election traditions; plan to celebrate presidential race from afar

Shiri Hadar|Published: 11.06.12 , 22:54

As millions of Americans will be holding their breath awaiting the results of the 2012 presidential elections, American students attending exchange programs in Israel will be glued to their TV screens, reminiscing about Election Day traditions in the United States.

Philadelphia-born Eyal Feinberg, 24, who is attending the IDC's Raphael Recanati International School, told Ynet he will be hosting an election party.

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"I'm having people over throughout the night. We'll have red, white and blue patriotic-colored drinks and we'll have patriotic food. In between, we'll watch TV and celebrate the elections."

The party, he said, is more about the elections and less about politics. "A lot of politically-neutral people will be coming as well. We'll have plenty of drinks to help the winners celebrate and console the losers. Everyone knows this is the most important election in the world."

"כולם יודעים שמדובר בבחירות החשובות בעולם" (צילום: דנה קופל)

American students in Israel (Photo: Dana Koppel)

Another Israeli arena in which lively debates about the elections are taking place is social media.

Erik Shore, 24, who is also from Philadelphia, told Ynet that he and his friends in the US are constantly discussing politics online.

Shore noted that he misses him hometown Election Day traditions: "I'm use to having my dad wake me up early and then we'd go stand in line to vote, in the freezing cold, with a lot of other people. It's exciting."

Ariana Cameron, 21, from Georgia, told Ynet she was surprised of how much Israelis know about American politics - and how willing everyone is to debate it.

"Taxi drivers, hair dressers - everyone has an opinion about the US elections and it's nice to see how involved everyone is - even if they don't understand it in full."