Likud campaigns against Bedouin voters

The chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Hanan Melcer, blocked Sept. 15 Zazim nongovernmental organization (NGO) from using volunteers to drive Bedouin voters in the south to their polling stations. The ruling came in response to a petition submitted by the Likud. Melcer ruled that Zazim could only provide the service if it first registered with the State Comptroller’s Office as an “active election body.”

Zazim defines itself as a nonpartisan political organization dedicated to influencing the public agenda on matters pertaining to human rights, social justice, the struggle against racism, the occupation, and so on. The group was founded through a donation from the New Israel Fund, an organization considered “hostile” by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the right, which has called to limit its activity. According to Zazim, 40% of its budget comes from small donations from activists, with the remainder coming from private foundations.

The initiative to drive Bedouin voters to the polls was intended to assist those living in the unrecognized villages in the Negev Desert to fulfill their most basic right as citizens. These communities are seldom connected to electricity, water or paved roads. Many of the Bedouin families in the Negev, and particularly those in the unrecognized villages, live below the poverty line. While eligible to vote, it is particularly onerous for them to get to the polling stations, which are located in more urbanized Bedouin localities such as Segev Shalom, Rahat or Lakiya.

In response to the petition submitted by the Likud against Zazim’s attempt to drive voters to the polling stations, the organization defended its actions by providing examples of why it is important to provide these voters with access, given that the polling stations are so far from their homes.