11 - Voting

Summary

Explanations and the puzzle

The subject of ethnic voting in Israel has aroused strong interest both in the mass media and among social scientists. This interest stems principally from the clear statistical relationship between ethnic origins and support for the two largest political parties: Israelis of Middle Eastern origin have shown a strong preference, especially in the last few elections, for the Likud, and Israelis of European origin have continued to show a strong preference for the Labor Alignment or Ma'arach (Matras, 1965; Lissak, 1969; Arian, 1972; Peres, Yuchtman-Yaar, and Shafat, 1975; Shamir and Arian, 1983; Peres and Shemer, 1984; Peretz and Smooha, 1985). The correlation between ethnic origin and voting, and the feeling that the ethnic-political division has widened over the years have prompted investigations of the meanings and causes of the relationship.

The explanations that have been suggested by social scientists may be briefly summarized as follows:

1 The most common explanation of the support of Middle Easterners for the Likud is in terms of a protest vote (for example, Yishai, 1982; P. S. Cohen, 1983; Ben-Sira, 1988). It is argued that the feelings of deprivation, frustration, and bitterness that developed among Middle Easterners are directed against the Ma'arach, the party of the socio-political establishment, which they hold responsible for their relatively low economic distribution and status in Israeli society.