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March 31, 2006
Kadima wins mock election
Results closely resembles the outcome of actual Israeli exit polls.
VERONIKA STEWART
A Kadima majority in a mock election last Friday at King David
High School mirrored the outcome of the actual Israeli election
exit polls on Tuesday.
Juval Lerner, a Grade 12 student and emcee at the event, said he
thought Kadima would win in both elections and that the party also
had his support.
"The popular vote right now is Kadima, they're way in the lead,"
Lerner commented of recent Israeli polls.
Lerner said the event would be useful in giving students a lesson
in democracy.
"This is one of the more important elections, with the whole
withdrawal thing going on," Lerner said. "And that's why
we decided this year we're going to teach everybody what's going
on."
Cory Segal, Lerner's fellow emcee, also said he would vote Kadima.
"I'm a big fan of Ariel Sharon, even though he's not going
to be representing the party," Segal said. "I'm still
a big fan of the Kadima party and I think that they're doing great
things. They say that Jerusalem will serve as the eternal capital
of Israel and that's really my main belief, that we should keep
Jerusalem. And that's one of the main reasons why I'm choosing Kadima."
King David students presented hypothetical campaign speeches from
the Labor, Likud, Kadima, Ehod Leomi, Shas, Meretz and United Arab
parties. The school's results had Kadima leading with 49 votes,
Likud following, with 20 votes, Ehod Leomi with 16, Meretz with
14, Labor with 11 and the Arab and Shas parties tied for the least
number of votes with five seats each. Aside from the lack of votes
given to the Likud party, the results at King David were similar
to the results from Israel.
Although Chloe Lerner, 17, who represented the United Arab party,
did not win the election, she said the mock election was a good
learning experience for her. Her party platform focused on equality
in education and employment for Arabs living in Israel, and on the
implementation of a two-state solution.
"I learned a lot. Half of the stuff in that speech I didn't
know [before]," Lerner said. "It was generally my understanding
that Israel's a democracy, right? Everyone's treated equally. So
when I learned about all this stuff, it made me think twice. There
are a lot of things that need improvement in Israel, and not just
the economy or whatever, also human rights."
Lerner said she wasn't sure yet which party she'd support.
"Definitely no one too right-wing, but I don't think I've decided
on a party," she said.
With slogans like, "It is time for change; it is time to move
forward, it is time for Kadima," "Bridge the Gap,"
for the United Arab party and Likud with, "Strong Against Hamas,"
the event ran smoothly, minus a few giggles from nervous presenters.
Representatives from Kadima championed the ideas of Jerusalem as
the eternal capital of
Israel, the dismantling of illegal settlements and a unilateral
path to peace. Their rivals, the Labor party, represented by Grade
12 student Nicole Grubnor, proposed a two-state solution and a separation
of religion from the state.
The United Arab party also called for the separation of church and
state and a two-state solution, as well as of the establishment
of an Arabic university and social equality for Arabs living in
Israel. The Meretz party promised to allow gay marriage, to lower
college fees and to change the current law that allows the ultra-Orthodox
to opt out of compulsory military service in Israel. Echod Leomi
championed the ideas of female equality, the separation of religion
from politics and a place for the Jewish people. The Shas (religious)
party spoke on the importance of Israel being ruled by Jewish values
and laws and said that the government should protect places of worship.
Early results from Israel Tuesday showed the Kadima party, headed
by Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and formed Sharon, with a minority
in the Knesset. Although polls released on Monday showed support
for the centrist Kadima party was slipping, predicting 34 of the
120 Knesset seats would go to Kadima instead of the 44 seats predicted
several weeks earlier, Kadima still managed to beat out its two
closest rivals, the Labor and Likud parties.
This was the first time that King David hosted such an event. It
was organized by teacher Shoshana Burton.
Veronika Stewart is a student intern at the Independent.
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