Half don't vote: The surprising city with the lowest voter turnout

The article presents voter turnout as the decisive factor in the upcoming elections, focusing on cities with the lowest rates: Haifa with about 55%, Tel Aviv with 59.6%, and Netanya with 58.29%. In contrast, Bnei Brak leads with 76.5%. Parties, especially Yashar!, are revealing technological tools for field analysis and message targeting. Experts explain the apathy in large cities, and the anger in the Haredi street toward the Haredi parties is reflected in the absence of posters in Bnei Brak.

The article deals with voter turnout in the upcoming elections in Israel, presenting it as a decisive factor that could determine the outcome in a tight race. It focuses on cities with the lowest voter turnout, with Haifa leading at only about 55% in the 2022 elections, followed by Tel Aviv (59.6%) and Netanya (58.29%). In contrast, Bnei Brak leads with 76.5%. The article reviews party efforts to increase turnout, focusing on the Yashar! party led by Gadi Eisenkot, which reveals the use of technological tools and a model learned from Hungary for field analysis and message targeting. It also includes interviews with residents in Tel Aviv and experts, including Prof. Guy Hochman from Reichman University and Prof. Itai Bar from the University of Haifa, who analyze the causes of apathy in large cities. The article also touches on anger in the Haredi street toward the Haredi parties, expressed in the near-total absence of election posters in Bnei Brak, but notes that the Haredi community turns out to vote at a high rate. Finally, it explains the connection between voter turnout and the electoral threshold, mentioning the case of Meretz in 2022, which almost crossed the threshold.