These Israelis want to fly home to vote. Netanyahu is trying to stop them

With only a matter of weeks until Israel heads to the ballot box, the sharpest political battleground is unfolding in the skies. Tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad are reportedly booking flights home to vote - and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party is trying to keep at least some of them grounded. On Wednesday, Likud filed a petition asking Israel’s Central Elections Committee to block “Fly & Vote,” a grassroots initiative helping Israeli expatriates fly home for election day. Likud accused it of being an illegal, foreign funded operation, claiming it could “severely harm the integrity of the election.” In a country where razor-thin margins often decide the outcome of an election, these votes could play a major part in determining the country’s next leader. Unlike most Western democracies in which citizens abroad can mail in a ballot, Israel doesn’t allow absentee voting; only diplomats and official envoys can vote from outside the country. Ordinary citizens abroad - up to 10% of the population at any given time - must return home or forfeit their right to vote. Adi Ayash, an Israeli digital content creator who lives in Thailand, said there was never a question about returning to vote. “As someone who is very engaged and very worried by the reality of the (current) Israeli leadership, I feel that it is my duty,” he told CNN. “Not to exercise my democratic right because of flight costs or convenience feels to me like extreme hypocrisy.” The October 27 vote will be the first national election after four turbulent years under Netanyahu’s right-wing, ultra-Orthodox coalition, a term which included mass protests of liberal Israelis against a judicial overhaul and the October 7 attack in 2023 which was followed by a three-year multi-front war. According to the latest polls, both Netanyahu’s coalition and his deeply fragmented opposition are falling short of the 61-seat majority needed to form a government. Likud fears an influx of Israeli expats could help the opposition parties in a close election. “Fly & Vote” was launched by the America-Israel Democracy AID Coalition, a US-based nonprofit founded in 2023 that describes its mission as “strengthening Israel’s democratic foundations.” The group says it doesn’t pay directly for anyone’s travel but uses technology to search commercial listings for affordable, creative flight routes and group rates. It also helps with logistics like renewing passports, checking eligibility, and organizing charter flights if demand warrants or commercial options fall short. The group says more than 35,000 Israelis have registered, and internal surveys suggest over 50,000 intend to return to vote. “Something bigger is happening here. There is an international movement from all over the world. It’s a national event,” said Batell Blaish Sultanik, co-founder of “Fly & Vote,” comparing it to the wave of citizens who returned to enlist after October 7. “Israelis understand their vote is important,” Sultanik added. She insists the effort is nonpartisan and that no participant receives money or benefits from the group. “We do not ask or check who they are voting for behind the ballot box,” she told CNN. “It’s about the right to vote.” Netanyahu’s Likud party, however, disagrees. In its petition, the party says the coalition is a political body, created to channel American donations to Israeli protest groups. Likud claims it is tied to the opposition Democrats party. The group and the party deny any affiliation. Even if participants pay for their own tickets, the Likud argues priority flight access and group discount rates are prohibited benefits that amount to election bribery under Israeli law. The petition also points to a separate AID coalition project, called “FLY AND AID,” which offers $250 gift cards for volunteering in Israel. “This is a distinctly political body attempting to influence the election system,” the petition states. The Likud’s efforts have only increased the resolve of some Israelis to return for the election. Josh Drill, who will fly from New York with a “Fly & Vote” group, told CNN: “Every attempt to obstruct our democratic right to vote only strengthens our determination to get on a plane, cast our ballot, and take part in this election to help shape the future of Israel.” The outcome of the Likud petition hinges on evidence, said Guy Lurie, a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute. “It depends on facts and evidence that will be presented to the Central Elections Committee. The central legal question is whether organizing flights - without directly funding - amounts to a prohibited benefit and whether Likud can substantiate its claims that the initiative amounts to a foreign legal activity,” he said. The AID coalition insists it operates within the law and serves all Israelis abroad. “The Likud seeks to prevent Israeli citizens who boarded planes after October 7, tax-paying citizens who want to be involved in their homeland, from the right and the obligation to take part in deciding the future of the state of Israel,” the group said in a statement. Opposition figures have raised a separate concern: Likud’s control over the Transportation Ministry and the Airport Authority, floating scenarios in which flight slots are restricted or disrupted around election day. A July report in Haaretz suggested internal ministry discussions about scaling back activities on October 27, prompting lawmakers and the Israeli Association for Civil Rights to ask the Central Election Committee to guarantee the skies remain open and flights continue uninterrupted. “Reducing the ability to travel from abroad to reach Israel to vote is a serious violation of freedom of voting and the most basic democratic mechanism,” the opposition Yesh Atid party wrote in an appeal. Transportation Minister Miri Regev, from Likud, dismissed the report as a “gross lie.” “I kept the skies open throughout the war,” she said in a video posted on social media. “Does anyone really think I’m going to close the skies on election day? And besides, who said that only leftists travel abroad and return on election day?” Notably, ultra-Orthodox voters have traditionally flown home en masse - largely from New York - without similar objections, and the Likud has previously promoted legislation to enable external voting from abroad. This time is different. Far-right Communications Minister Shomo Karhi recently said in a radio interview that Israelis abroad who wish to influence the country’s future should immigrate. “Whoever does not live here should not come just because in the name of the ‘Just Not Bibi’ – to try to replace the government,” he said.