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Will Israelis living overseas gain right to vote?

Israeli politicians from across the political map are advancing a law to allow Israeli expatriates, not just diplomats, to vote in absentia in Israel's elections.
An Israeli flag is seen in the background as a man casts his ballot for the parliamentary election at a polling in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ofra, north of Ramallah January 22, 2013. Israelis voted on Tuesday in an election that is expected to see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu win a third term in office, pushing the Jewish state further to the right, away from peace with the Palestinians and towards a showdown with Iran. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS TPX IMAGES OF THE
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As they do every four years, millions of US citizens will take part in the presidential elections in November. Some 300,000 eligible voters live in Israel, and judging by previous elections, tens of thousands will exercise their right to cast absentee ballots.

Unlike the United States, which grants all its citizens the right to vote anywhere and under all circumstances, most other countries set certain limitations on the rights of their citizens to vote from abroad. Israeli law grants the ability to exercise this important democratic right only to members of its diplomatic corps and to employees of the Jewish Agency, the World Zionist Federation, the Jewish National Fund and the United Israel Appeal. Still, while law enables murderers and other convicted felons serving jail terms to take part in the democratic process, the same law revokes the voting rights of students, university professors, employees of private firms, tourists and other Israelis away from their permanent places of residence on election day.

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