U.S.-based Jewish organizations are working to turn out the votes of Americans living in Israel ahead of the November election, which will be held just weeks after the one-year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. .
Nathan Diament, executive director of public policy for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, said his organization is coordinating with the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and partnering with Yeshiva University, a private Orthodox Jewish university in New York. He said he is mentoring young Americans. I used my gap year in Israel to learn how to request an absentee ballot and how to vote from abroad.
“First of all, from our perspective, it's important that all Americans, wherever they are, participate in elections,” Diament told FOX News Digital. “As you know, this past year has obviously been a very intense, serious and historic year in terms of what's going on in Israel, where we continue to fight Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran itself. They have friends and family there and they're living their lives.'' So it's very important for Americans who have the right to vote to rejoin because the United States is Israel's most important ally. ”
He estimates that there are currently several thousand Jewish Americans in Israel, typically taking a gap year between high school and college. His own son is also one of this year's students.
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A sign pointing the way to the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, September 27, 2023. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)
The Federation of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (or Orthodox Union), which represents more than 1,000 Orthodox Jewish synagogues and hundreds of Jewish K-12 schools across the United States, is targeting a different demographic: hundreds of thousands of people. We are also working on educational resources aimed at Jewish people. American immigrants who have permanently resided in Israel – so they too can participate in the 2024 elections.
Deadlines for requesting absentee ballots are approaching in several battleground states. Diament said that among the roughly 420,000 Jewish Pennsylvanians, those who study or live in Israel “could influence their votes in communities around Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and even Scranton.” ” he said.
“Joe Biden won Pennsylvania by 80,000 votes in the last election,” Diament said. “So a change in the American Jewish vote in Pennsylvania by a few thousand votes, or even 10,000 votes, or more, could be very significant in this election.”
In January, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem called on Americans living in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza to verify their voter registration to ensure they have enough time to participate in the upcoming 2024 federal election. . Because the United States does not offer in-person voting at embassies and consulates abroad, U.S. citizens are encouraged to vote by absentee ballot if they cannot meet their state's in-person voting requirements.
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An Israeli soldier stands near a sign marking the one-year anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)
At the time, the embassy noted that “many U.S. federal elections for the House and Senate are decided by margins smaller than the number of absentee ballots cast.”
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem said all states must count all absentee ballots that are “valid and received by local election officials by the absentee ballot receipt deadline.”
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that American citizens living outside the United States can register to vote and vote absentee while living abroad. Students living abroad for an extended period of time during the election period must vote absentee and complete the Federal Postcard Application. FVAP.gov A spokesperson said it is necessary to request an absentee ballot, adding that the voter's residence will continue to be the student's last legal residence before leaving the U.S. to study abroad.
A State Department spokesperson said U.S. citizens voting from abroad should check FVAP.gov for detailed information about their state's deadlines and how to return their ballots.
“Americans living abroad can most easily request an absentee ballot through the team we have at our center in Jerusalem, or by visiting a U.S. embassy or consulate in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv,” Diament said. . “If you present your ID and receive your absentee ballot properly, all you have to do is send it in in a timely manner. It's really not that complicated.”
Absentee ballots will be ready for mailing on September 17, 2024 at the Wake County Board of Elections in Raleigh, North Carolina. U.S. citizens voting from abroad are encouraged to request a ballot as soon as possible. (Alison Joyce/Getty Images)
Jeremy Kazas, executive director of the Beacon Coalition, a nonprofit focused on eliminating Jewish votes on the ground in Pittsburgh, asked whether U.S. citizens travel out of state or out of the country during elections. Regardless, absentee ballots should be sent in as soon as possible, he said. May be included in initial count.
“The postal system is overwhelmed at election time because it's not just all the ballots that come in the mail, it's the 5 billion pieces of political mail that everyone receives every day,” Casas said. Fox News Digital. “Add to that the chaos and disruption from the multiple hurricanes that are moving through the East Coast at this time. So the best thing to do is to do all of this humanely and as soon as possible.”
Diament said that which candidates the Orthodox Alliance members support is confidential, but that polls conducted by Israeli media outlets and pollsters among Israelis and Americans on the ground are confidential. , especially after the October presidential election, suggesting a shift toward Republican Donald Trump. Attacked in July 2023.
“Frankly, that's not the case with the American Jewish population as a whole. The American Jewish population is generally pretty liberal. That's why traditionally Democrats get majorities, sometimes very large majorities. 'But we've done polls this year of Jews here in the United States, and we've polled others, too,' Diament said. “What we're seeing, at least so far, is that Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate is leading in the overall American Jewish vote, but by a wide margin compared to traditionally Democratic candidates. That doesn't mean we're leading the way.” ”
Diament argued that rising anti-Semitism in the United States could be a contributing factor.
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“This is a different kind of election in light of what has happened to American Jews over the past year,” Diament said. “We have seen a frightening rise in anti-Semitism in the aftermath of the October 7th terrorist attacks. We must hold our government officials accountable and make sure they treat us well, to ensure that our right to religious freedom is protected in this country.”
“In some ways, they feel more comfortable and secure than their friends on American college campuses,” Diament said of her son and his friends spending a gap year in Israel. ” he said.
“It is clear that their lives are not threatened by foreign forces in the same way as people on the ground in Israel,” he said. “But there are many campuses where American Jewish youth are actually threatened psychologically and personally.”
