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Avodah is the traditional party of Labor Zionism, the party of socialist values, and on their list one can find a
handful of politicians with serious socialist chops. And yet today they are lead by Ehud Barak who seldom
relates to any of my values, who thinks too much like a soldier and not enough like a human, and who more
often that not shows no more desire for a real and lasting peace or a just society than any other of his
mainstream brethren. This is on top of the fact that Barak orchestrated a war that in my opinion went on
for much too long and took much too large a toll on human life. How can I vote with any conscience for a
party whose leadership is so far from my vision?

Meretz was once the left of the left, the pro-Soviet revolutionary party of yore. Today they are far far
from those values. They have been shaped over the past decades into the staunch voice of the left, the ones
who are not afraid to shout what perhaps Labor can only whisper due to the reality of politics. They are pro-
peace, they are pro-social welfare, they are a veritable bastion of progressive values. Yet in addition to
finding themselves shaped in such a way over the past decades, they have also been shaped in a serious voice
of free market liberal economics. Their capitalist underlying values seriously detract from their ability to
make real change when it is so very clear from history and the modern economic climate of the world that
those very values and ideas have led to inequality and worldwide economic crisis. With such a contradiction
between their stated aims and their values and methodology behind those aims, how can I vote for Meretz?

Chadash is the only self-purported mixed Jewish/Arab party. They have strong values centered in peace,
social welfare, and real cooperation between Jews and Arabs. Their platform is so obviously in line with my
values that on paper they seem pretty perfect. On the other hand, Chadash has historically run on a joint
platform with Arab parties with whom I do not agree, and Chadash is avowedly communist – and when I say
communist, I mean anti-nationalist. These issues cannot be overlooked when the center of my value system
comes from my Jewish Zionist roots, and Chadash openly distances itself from those roots. How can I,
someone who came to Israel in the Socialist Zionist vision, vote for a party who does not identify as Zionist?

These are the dilemmas I face when thinking about whom to vote for. The issue becomes more complex when
I look at the larger political spectrum and consider the best way to ensure that Bibi Netanyahu, the
uncontested leader in polls for the last few months, will not become prime minister, for as much as I am
confused and unsure who to vote for, I am 100% certain that Bibi is not right for this country or for the
Jewish people. This then brings up the question of voting my conscience versus strategically voting. In a
pure and well functioning democratic system, everyone votes their conscience because that is the very point
of an electoral system. Unfortunately, the simple truth is that Israel is far from a pure and well functioning
democratic system.

Above all else, this election forces me to consider exactly how I seek to make change in society. I am here in
Israel working to create a new society from the ground up. I hold the belief that change comes from the
people, not from the politicians. I am myself serving a dugma, as a chalutz, as the very change I seek to
create. With these beliefs, what role does voting even play in my vision for social change, for a better
Jewish people? Voting cannot be an individual action free from my day-to-day struggle for social change, else
it is a wasteful action. And yet politics and movement praxis are so distant from one another, in what way
can I possibly bridge that gap?

Unfortunately, this letter ends with me still not having an answer to any of these questions. I as of yet do
not know who I will vote for with elections less than a week away. I as of yet do not know how to connect my
messimati kvutsati life to the political system. But, in the effort to end on a high note, I will say this:

I have a vision that the movement will change society, and part of that is the politics of this country. I will
continue to live my life in a way that constantly decreases the gap between my vision and the reality before
my eyes. I will continue to despair, for how can one not, and yet with that despair find the energy to soldier
forth, to continue to build relationships, to continue educating, to continue the reparation of the world.

Aleh VeHagshem,

Gil Browdy