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| | Email this article • Print this article | Likud wins among local university students
Aish HaTorah poll gauges sentiment
Adam Kredo
Staff Writer
If the Israeli population were comprised of Greater Washington-area college students, then Benjamin Netanyahu would surely be the next prime minister of the Jewish homeland, according to a poll conducted Tuesday on local college campuses.
As of press time, results of that poll indicated that an overwhelming percentage of college students from the University of Maryland in College Park, American University and George Washington University, both in the District, and George Mason University in Fairfax preferred Netanyahu's conservative Likud Party over the more liberal Kadima Party.
(In the real elections, Tzipi Livni and Kadima had the lead at press time.)
Sponsored by Hasbara Fellowships, an Israel advocacy project backed by Orthodox Aish International, the mock election queried students at more than 75 universities across the nation, including the five local ones. Voting breakdowns were available only by school and were not tallied overall.
Although they were initially confused by the question, U.Md. student Adina Rosenblatt said, "People were pleasantly surprised, when I said, 'Do you want to vote in the Israeli elections?' "
As of Tuesday afternoon, Rosenblatt, who was responsible for overseeing the program, said that about 75 ballots had been cast by students who happened to wander upon the voting booth in the student union center.
As of late afternoon, polling information for U.Md. indicated that Likud, with nearly 39 percent of the total vote, was pulling far ahead of Kadima's 7 percent share. The Orthodox Yahadut HaTorah ve Shabbat (Torah Judaism and Shabbat Observance) Party came in a close second, garnering nearly 23 percent of the vote. The number of total ballots cast was unavailable as of Tuesday.
"You can read tons of newspapers, but this program has brought it down to everyone," said Rosenblatt, noting that she also handed out fliers with information on each candidate.
"We had a lot more interest than I expected," Rosenblatt said. "I was surprised."
Students could also vote electronically on the Hasbara Fellowships Web site. Both real world and electronic voting stations closed at 8 p.m., several hours after Israel's polls closed.
At A.U., where Likud was leading Kadima 53 percent to 23 percent as of press time, student organizer Naomi Shakerdge said it was enlightening to see how college students' voting habits compared with the Israeli electorate. "It was a great opportunity for students to see their input on a college level," said the 20-year-old.
Though Shakerdge was unsure exactly how many ballots had been cast throughout the day, she said the exercise was a good way to get students "into the polls" and aware of the political climate in Israel.
At GWU, nearly 40 percent of the vote was for Likud, with the Torah Party garnering 26 percent and Kadima receiving 17 percent.
Voting at GMU appeared incomplete as polling information reflected that half of the vote was cast for the Orthodox Torah Party and the other half for Likud.
For the most part, polling information indicated that at other universities around the nation, Likud was faring generally better than rival Kadima.
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