SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Israelis who live abroad are flying home to vote in tomorrow's election in such unprecedented numbers that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is warning they could tip the balance of the election away from him. NPR's Ruth Sherlock went to Israel's main airport to meet returning voters.
UNDENTIFIED CROWD #1: (Chanting in non-English language).
RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE: People are coming from all over the world to vote in person. And here at the airport, people are greeting them, holding balloons, sporting T-shirts from different opposition groups, all encouraging them to vote against Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister.
GILA KARIV: We called all Israeli citizens overseas to come to vote. They're the ones that feel this catastrophe in the global status of Israel.
SHERLOCK: Gilad Kariv is an Israeli Parliament member with the left-wing Democrats Party at the arrivals terminal. He says these expatriates see the harm that Netanyahu's wars in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran are doing to Israel's reputation abroad.
KARIV: That feel the impact of the extreme policies of Netanyahu on the well-being of Jewish life around the globe.
SHERLOCK: At the airport, we speak with people flying in from Greece, France, Romania, New Zealand and many, many people from the U.S.
CLAUDIA KREIMAN: I just landed, and I'm leaving back tomorrow night.
SHERLOCK: Rabbi Claudia Kreiman spent more than $2,000 to fly to Israel from Boston for one night, just to vote.
KREIMAN: I haven't done this for another election. I've lived in the states for over 20 years. This election feels urgent in a way that nothing else has felt. And I will be back in the states next week to vote in the states, because those elections, also, are incredibly urgent to save democracy. We have to save democracy everywhere.
UNDENTIFIED CROWD #2: (Singing in non-English language).
SHERLOCK: A survey by the America-Israel Democracy Coalition that's been mobilizing expats, found some 67,000 Israelis are flying in to cast their ballots, enough votes to secure up to two parliamentary seats, which, in this close election, is important. But inside the country, Israelis are almost evenly divided over whether Netanyahu should remain.
GIL AVRAHAM: (Shouting in non-English language).
SHERLOCK: In the arrivals terminal here, on the one side, you have people calling for change, singing for peace. On the other side, you have people shouting, Bibi for government. Netanyahu should remain in power.
AVRAHAM: Bibi is the king of the world, OK? King of the world.
SHERLOCK: Gil Avraham has come to the airport to try to convince those flying in to vote for Netanyahu. It's by waging so many wars, he says, that Netanyahu keeps Israel safe.
AVRAHAM: (Shouting) Hamas go, Hezbollah go, Iran afraid. Afraid from Israel.
SHERLOCK: Netanyahu promotes the idea that only he can protect Israel from disaster. This weekend, he published an AI-generated image of an atomic bomb exploding over Tel Aviv to emphasize Iran's nuclear threat as he campaigned on a promise to end the regime in Tehran. But Daphna Yagour believes wars will not secure Israel's future.
DAPHNA YAGOUR: We need to do the change now.
SHERLOCK: She's arrived on a plane full of Israeli voters from San Francisco. She wears a T-shirt that has a rainbow and the word kind on it.
YAGOUR: See the shirt that I wear - to be kind, that people will be connecting again, not hate each other. We are supposed to live together. For me, this is the main idea.
SHERLOCK: It's this argument over whether wars or diplomacy bring Israel security, that will play out at the ballot box tomorrow.
Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Ben Gurion Airport. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
