Footnote: Elections Edition

Did you know that since 2019, there were 4 elections in Israel--with the 5th coming up these days

I was casually browsing legacy media sites and stumbled across a short notice on Austro-Covidian state broadcaster ORF Online. Its headline—which prompted me to click on it—read (my emphasis):

Israel: Fifth Parliamentary Elections Since 2019

Around 6.8 million eligible voters in Israel are called upon today to determine the 120 members of the 25th Knesset. Almost 12,500 polling stations are available nationwide. Most of them have been open since 6.00 a.m. and will remain open until 9.00 p.m. (CET). When the polling stations close, the first forecasts will be published.

This is the fifth election in three and a half years. Forty lists are contesting, but only a third are expected to clear the 3.25% bar-of-entry. This round of voting could again lead to a stalemate between the camp of former head of government Benjamin Netanyahu and his opponents. Netanyahu’s right-wing conservative Likud party is expected to be the strongest force in parliament again.

The final result of the election is not expected before Thursday. President Izchak Herzog will decide after the election who will be given the task of forming a government. The candidate will then have four weeks to form a coalition. As after last year's election, it could take weeks or months before a government is in place.

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I know, it’s a short piece, devoid of much, if any, meaningful information. Still, check out the highlighted item:

This is the fifth election in three and a half years.

You know, this is awful on a number of accounts, ranging from sentiments like ‘just have another vote and we’ll see what it means afterwards’ to the unasked question: is there a historical precedent for this?

So, I did a few minutes of checking the most obvious candidates for political insanity—and, lo and behold, it turns out that next to the Israeli record of late, Italian politics (measured by the number of general elections) looks measured and mature.

So, the most apt comparison, however absurd—and patently so—it may seem, would be the Weimar Republic (1918-33).

Listen, before you hyperventilate, let’s just consider the facts:

According to the historical record (visualised helpfully here), there were general elections in Weimar Germany in May 1928, Sept. 1930, July and Nov. 1932, and March 1933.

Now, the last one occurred ‘only’ after the Nazi Party took power, so let’s not consider the March 1933 elections. That would still bring the tally to four elections within five years.

Limitations of this posting incl. my ignorance of the number of elections in, say, Latin America in the Interwar Period (here’s looking at you, Argentina or Mexico), but then again: I’m not sure the comparisons would render what’s going on in Israel any less insane.

Let me know what you think, dear readers.