Oren Smadja, a right-wing political activist and former coach of Israel's national judo team, said Wednesday on Radio 103FM that he will not cast a ballot in the upcoming election, marking the first time in his life he has chosen not to vote. Smadja had recently announced he was joining the party led by former minister Gideon Sa'ar, which has since withdrawn from the electoral race.
"In the upcoming elections I will not vote," Smadja stated. "For the first time, there is no person or leader who makes me want to vote for them."
The announcement follows Sa'ar's decision last Friday to pull his HaYehadut (Unity) party out of the election. Sa'ar explained that after approximately a month of campaigning, and despite receiving public support, the party decided to withdraw after attempts to form alliances with other political parties failed to materialize.
In his withdrawal statement, Sa'ar said he had founded the party several weeks earlier out of a sense of mission to serve the Israeli people. "I believe Israel needs a broad Zionist government that can pass a real conscription law and resolve divisions," he said.
However, Sa'ar concluded that public priorities differed from those that motivated the party's formation. "Reality shows that in the upcoming elections, a large majority of the public wants above all a clear decision on the question of who will be prime minister, and the need for a broad unity government is not high on citizens' list of priorities," he explained.
