You don’t need an academic degree in psychology (although I do have a couple of those!), to notice that different people vote in different ways. Let’s take a look at how that works. EMOTION-DRIVEN VOTERS Many people are very tribal and emotional in their voting. Unfortunately, this can also lead to hate-based voting. A depressing example of that profile of voter was published last week by the Jerusalem Post . This was ostensibly an opinion piece, but here is a list of the vocabulary words the writer used, to describe the candidate he opposed (whפ was Netanyahu): Disgusting pretending embarrassment treacherous dirty off-tune shameful treasonous beyond reproach stinking cynical crazy irreparable laughable disingenuous divisive shameless. Clearly, this writer -- and his editor – are operating on such a highly emotionally charged level that they literally forgפt their professional responsibilities to readers. After all, a published opinion piece is supposed to provide reasoning, not diatribes, a requirement that both this writer and his editor simply threw to the winds. Emotional voting can have its appeal when the driving emotion is positive, but is not pleasant to encounter, when the driving emotion is hate. LOYALIST VOTERS This is less common nowadays. Some voters always vote the same thing, most often because their entire family has always voted that way. With the regrettable weakening of the status of the family in many societal sectors, loyalist voters have become less common. Young people, especially, are less likely to simply vote en famille. However, if you are persuading a young non-voter, many of these can and will be persuaded to vote very happily -- if you ask them what their parents would want them to vote. Then, suggest to the young person that he might vote the exact same thing TO MAKE HIS OR HER PARENTS HAPPY. Often, it turns out that one of their parents has already begged them to do so. A little cajoling from one more person (you) often does the trick and turns a non-voter into a proud voter! MEDIA-DRIVEN VOTERS These voters are highly influenced by media, and may have fallen into the habit (the echo chamber) of political opinions that deep down, they do not really share. In the British Jewish community for example, such voters are sometimes wryly termed “prisoners of the BBC”, but every country, including Israel, has them. If you are concerned about what the voters are or might be voting, talk to them about it. It is amazing how many voters are swayed by a sincere person who takes the time to explain their own viewpoint and to ask whether this voter might please reconsider. Even better is when such voters are approached by more than one sincere person. You never know, and never will know, who else might have spoken to this person or who might speak to them an hour from now. That’s why, if you care enough to try and be influential, it is well worth your time to reach out to people pleasantly – whether it is your nephew or the kupat cholim secretary. LOW-ENERGY VOTERS These voters are most often not voters at all. In other words, they swell the ranks of Israel’s hundreds of thousands of non-voters. A sympathetic ear, and willingness to give actual help in driving or babysitting or helping to find a lost identity card, can sometimes help these sad people, who often have multiple problems and difficulties. As a rule of thumb, one isolated problem, even if serious, does not get people down. It’s the quantity of problems that all come the way of one person, that makes things very tough for some people. PROCRASTINATORS Some people cannot decide whether to vote for party A or party B, and they end up not voting at all for that reason, which is a great pity. It is worth suggesting a practical solution to these very sincere people: they can write the names of the parties they are considering (say: Likud or UTJ or Religious Zionism) on 3 pieces of paper, shuffle the 3 pieces of paper well, and whatever the TOP piece of paper says, that’s what they should vote. A religious person can say, if s/he finds it comforting, the words (from the Book of Tehillim) “בידך אפקיד רוחי פדיתה אותי יהוה אל אמת” which means, roughly translated, “To your hand do I entrust my spirituality, you are the true God who redeems me”. They can even do this in the voting booth rather than in advance. In that case, they hold the voting slips upside down so that the slip chosen for them by G-d goes into the envelope without them seeing what party G-d chose for them. Just one, however or the vote is discarded. ACHIEVEMENT BASED VOTERS This is my own profile, and the one that I recommend. Achievement-based voting keeps you and your family (and the State of Israel and the Jewish people) safe, which ought to be the most important consideration in your entire life. Emotion-driven voting doesn’t do that for you. Achievement-based voters simply choose the political party which got the most done – whichever party did the most for the country. The 2022 Mattot Arim Parliamentary Achievement Report gives all right-wing voters an exact comparative picture of which political parties and ministers and Knesset members did more, and which did less, on the existential issues, all the way from 2019 till mid-2022. Just what you need for the upcoming Election Day. Israel National News covered the 2022 Mattot Arim Parliamentary Achievement Report here: /news/361682 and the entire Report is available to the voting public on the Mattot Arim blog and on the Mattot Arim website. Happy voting to you and yours, come November first. Susie Dym holds an M.A. in psychology and is also volunteer spokesperson for Mattot Arim, an Israeli NGO working toward peace-for-peace since 1992
