SDEROT, Israel — Municipal elections were held in towns and cities all over Israel on Tuesday, and in the beleagured town of Sderot, near the Gaza border, the local Chabad center was considered safe enough, and politically neutral enough, to serve as a polling station.
In Sderot, Chabad Offered Voters Thick Walls and Neutrality
SDEROT, Israel — Municipal elections were held in towns and cities all over Israel on Tuesday, and in the beleagured town of Sderot, near the Gaza border, the local Chabad center was considered safe enough, and politically neutral enough, to serve as a polling station.
“They choose where voting will take place based on how protected the building is [from Kassam rockets],” explained Sderot shlucha Tzivia Pizem. “The other locations were mostly schools, but in our neighborhood there is no school, and we’re considered a neutral place.”
Any public activity in Sderot, including voting, is fraught with danger. Less than a mile from Gaza, the city – home to approximately 19,000 people – continues to be a prime target for Hamas.
For several weeks in September and October the skies over Sderot were relatively quiet, but Palestinians started a new barrage of Kassams in November, which have continued despite an IDF raid into Gaza last week.
The pre-election campaigns were heated this year, with voters trying to predict which candidates would work best with the national government to protect Sderot. According to Israel National News, between 2001 and 2007, the city has been battered by 6,300 rockets launched from within Gaza.
