Israel Election: What Does It Mean to You?

Israelis head to the polls on February 10th to vote in a new government. As the crisis in Gaza demonstrates, Israeli politics affect the world. The outcome of this election will have a huge impact on Israel, the Middle East and beyond.

Do you live in Israel or the Palestinian Territories? Tell HuffPost World what the upcoming election means to you. Submit your answers using this form.

What party and candidate would you like to see in power? Why? If you don't like any of the options, tell us what a better candidate would stand for. How will this election impact you and your community? How has the Gaza conflict influenced your choice?

American media are often criticized for their coverage of Israel. This is your chance to participate in a more comprehensive conversation with Americans about this election and its impact.

Respond in 150 words or less. We'll feature the most pointed observations and opinions alongside HuffPost coverage of the election.

Deadline: Saturday, February 8th at 12 Noon EST.

Make sure to pass this post along to your friends and family in Israel and the region.

Not interested in the Israeli election? Sign up here to receive HuffPost World updates and learn how to participate in our coverage.

Comments

[AngelaQuattrano]

I saw the headline and clicked on this article, hoping I would learn something about the elections, which as yet I know nothing about. How disappointing. I was not even aware that there were upcoming Israeli elections.

[Chazmania]

we will never see piece in any form anywhere with this sickness of dishonesty unidentified and flourishing all over the world. hoodlums have taken over our government and the Israeli government. and because our media is in voluntary compliance with this mentality the truth will never be told. the human race refuses to grow up. and no one will separate the childish fighting that childish people are intent on committing. it solves Nothing! and only hurts all of us. But the sickness is very deep. and it is at the core of every human conflict and pain we endure. honesty in every way is the only way man kind will stop this constant lunacy. we don't prosper for it. look around! short term gain by deception causing long term destruction and serves no one. yet we never learn! we are the same as Israel. we are the equal oppressors of truth and justice. And only further proof Americans agree with this mentality or they would put a stop to it.

[antiprop1]

It may take forcing both sides into making painful compromises, but peace can be obtained. Force Isreal into consessions by putting conditions on their American aid. Dismantle settlements in all areas occupied after the 1967 War. Make Jerusalem a UN controlled neutral city that respects all religions. Move the Isreali capital back to Tel Aviv. Bring UN troops into Gaza and Southern Lebanon to control Hamas and Hezbollah. Turn the skrews on the oil rich Arab States to assist the Palestineans building infrastructure and schools. Create joint Palestinean Isreali youth sport leagues to create a spirit of cooperation with youths. Am I missing anything? Im open to suggestions. Remember what John Lennon said,"War is over, if you want it". We can't just give up.

[Ping]

Elections are meaningless. By attacking Gaza, Israel has just guaranteed itself another 20 years of rocket attacks and terrorism. They are reaping the terrorism they sow in the Palestinian society.

[LAThinker]

The opposite is true. Not responding is iviting more attacks. Strong response is the only thing that could stop the likes of Hamas. world should have let Isreal to finish off Hamas in order to prevent farther deaths on both sides.

[JohnnyLee]

It seems to me that the Palestinians pose a lesser threat to Israel now than any time before. Walled off, bitterly divided and hiding behind children. So, I guess Israel does know what it's doing.

[davidwayneosedach]

There will be no change in Israel's politics.

Maybe it is time to change the $100's of billions in military aid we give them...(un­conditiona­lly.)

[Samlas]

The American citizens are programed to be pro Israel through the media that is greatly influenced by AIPAC. Americans are not allowed to rationalize in this subject because they will be labled anti semetic.

[LAThinker]

Give some credit to American people, may be it just that they know right from wrong.

[Jack Barron]

"Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss".

[sheperdess]

As a new American(Canadian), I'm astonished how very little information showing the Gaza living conditions prior to this latest outbreak of aggression ever makes news. Even NPR and PBS seem to have the propaganda machine at full tilt.. I fear America is ignorant of the oppression that is happening and the fault seems to be the Media. Is this because of upsetting American Jews?I would think they would want to know the truth. I worry that we appear to the rest of the world as supporting Israel, right or wrong. I believe that Israel is in need of some tough love from the people who care about her, she has lost her way. I for one am voicing my concerns to my Senators and have written to the President. We must offer the Palestinian people a better way, they have been at the mercy of the controlled borders for years, starving, conditions not improving Hamas looked good to them , they are not crazy just desparate. I wish America saw the news in Canada. My Jewish friends support a 2 state solution and understand that this is the only way to secure the peace and isn't it about peace?Is it because they are younger? I really am mystified by America's unwillingness to look at this in a balanced way.

[gbrooks]

Thanks Sheperdess. You've eloquently stated many of my concerns about my fellow Americans.

I'm not officially Jewish though (my grandfather was a Jew), so I get labelled as an anti-semite.

[SCLAW]

This democracy in their latest

"defensive" action--actually targeted and bombed

the Danish Center for Torture Rehabilitation. This

speaks volumes.

[janmarie]

Probably means more of my tax money going to Israel as usual.

[blowhard]

why has israel monopolized the u.s. policy in the middle east?

[Eclectic Radical]

The Arab-Israeli conflict has always consisted of an important part of US policy in the Middle East because it affects the whole region. A king of Jordan and a president of Egypt were both assassinated (the former by Palestinians, the latter by his own people) for being perceived as 'friendly' with Israel. The Arab-Israeli conflict has, in addition to the actual wars waged by Israel's neighbors against it, been integral to the disintegration of Lebanon as a viable democratic state (related to interference by Palestinians, Syria, and Israel), coup attempts in Jordan and Syria (by Fatah and its allies), and relationships between the US and Arab nations. Every nation or power group in the region (not just Israel and the Palestinians) uses the conflict to avoid facing a slough of real problems. Those problems will likely never be faced by any of the regional powers until the Arab-Israeli conflict is resolved.

As for why Israel in specific has been the focus of American policy, that's human nature. The US has more in common with Israel than with Saudi Arabia or Egypt. So we naturally get along better. That's just how people are.

[RevMetheus]

Wha?

You didnt answer anything other than to say that they are like us, and didnt back up why.

You sound like any other politician when asked about why Israel gets our aid and gives nothing but a headache.

[Wil]

Israel has lost touch with reality. That's what the election there tells me. The world has zigged and israel has zagged, arrogantly paying no heed at all to the rising tide of world opinion and anger against them. This is how a collective persecution complex brings disaster and more persecution on itself by the persecution of others. Israel's ardent supporters have given it enough rope to hang itself. It is an outlaw state and should be treated as such by all civilized people and nations.

[Eclectic Radical]

What do you propose Israel should have done instead? I am amazed at how the opponents of Israel condemn it while forgiving equivalent actions by the Palestinians and supporters of Israel condemn 'terrorism' without addressing the real problems of peace.

Israel is the only viable democratic nation in the Middle East not dependent on American troops to keep it viable. To characterize it as an 'outlaw state' is a trifle silly, unless one completely buys into Arab propaganda to the same extent a neocon buys into conservative Israeli propaganda. Israel is a country in a difficult position, forced to make difficult choices. They make choices I feel are wrong quite frequently. There are extremists among the Israelis, just as there are extremists in America and extremists in the Arab countries.

The problem is that we continue to attempt to see this conflict in Manichean terms, whether neoconservative and Pro-Israel or liberal and Anti-Israel. This is a thorny problem with much evil on both sides and some good on both sides too.

[kerpin]

thoughtful comments, thank you.

[SSF]

American taxpayer money finances the continued existence of Israel. In that sense, their election means a great deal to all of us!

[judiNJ]

The ultra religious in Israel do not pay taxes, yet we send our tax dollars to Israel... why? How would you feel if we had to pay the taxes for the followers of Pat Robertson? Me?... not happy at all.

[SCLAW]

This can not be true--

[Seldon]

Most agree that the only reasonable solution to long lasting peace is a two-state solution. When a people already deny your right to exist, trying to exterminate them and failing only allows those that survived to be yet more determined to wipe you out. In this case, the most strategic course of self-interest also happens to be the most moral and fair. Unfortunately, Isreali politics seems to have stagnated into a position where any politician has to make noises about protecting Israel militarily and are not able to make concrete plans by protecting Israel diplomatically.

I had high hopes for Tzipi Livni, however her obvious involvemen­t/approval of the recent Gaza incursion has cooled my appreciation of her candidacy and confirms my growing belief that a candidate who honestly promotes a diplomatic solution is not electorally viable.

Here's where other countries can step in, ESPECIALLY the USA. Let them know that they will no longer be recieving a blank check for security, and indeed our support for them will be inversely proportional to the amount of INNOCENT palestinian casualties. Change the political equation by demonstrating that the most diplomatic route to protecting Israel is also the best militiristic route. Then maybe we can achieve something. As is implied by another post here on HuffPo, if the Isrealis realise that their military defenses are dependent upon whether we approve of their diplomatic efforts - it won't matter a great deal who the leader actually is.

[janmarie]

A two-state solution is dead...it has been killed by the settlements.

[shaitan]

CBS's Sixty minutes had a video report by Simon a short while ago confirming what janmarie says--A two state solution is not what Israel wants and its expansion of settlements over the last many years with Jews-only roads and Jews on every hilltop in WestBank proves that.

[Trogenhorse]

I don't know what to think of the up coming elections in Isreal. I don't think I really count as I am not an Isreali citizen. I do know I would like to see someone on both side who can work out a peace agreement.

I don't think the on going fighting helps either side

[misaacm]

From Center for Strategic and International Studies, just out today:

Israel did not violate the laws of war and made marked improvements in its fighting capability during the recent military operation against Hamas in Gaza, yet the gains from the conflict in the long term remain uncertain, a US study concludes.

The analysis of the 22-day conflict in Gaza by Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies finds "impressive improvements in the readiness and capability" of the Israeli Defense Forces since the war against Hizbullah in Lebanon in 2006, and unequivocally states that Israel did not violate the laws of war despite the large number of civilian casualties among the Palestinians.

"[Israel] did deliberately use decisive force to enhance regional deterrence and demonstrate that it had restored its military edge," the report states. "These, however, are legitimate military objectives in spite of their very real humanitarian costs."

[Freenation]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Cordesman

"Cordesman's work has been called "prolific," but "imprecise," and he has been accused of presenting "opinions... as fact, " of "sloppiness with sources and citations," and of producing books that read "like a notebook with facts and figures cut-and-pasted, then poorly integrated into the narrative."

Now we believe you...did he cared to mention IDF loonies killed 750+ civilians to show their deterrence...White washing eh...

[Wozzeck]

Cordesman's analytic acumen can't be challenged. After all, he wrote this about Saddam:

"The existence of Hussein's arsenal of chemical and biological weapons was never in doubt. Therefore, deposing Hussein and routing his government was justified under the terms of the cease-fire that ended hostilities in the 1991 Gulf War."

[Steamboater]

Israel has elections. That's enough. It's the only country in the mideast that elects democratically.

[Ergon]

Germany had a democratic election too, in 1933.

[JohnnyLee]

Yeah and Hitler lost. It was the Kaiser who appointed Hitler as head of the Army - and the rest as they say is history.

[mivogo]

So did Gaza.