# Israel and Al Gore **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2000, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-al-gore/40843 "2000-11-12T01:24:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-al-gore/40843/1 "2000-11-12T01:24:13Z")
Does anybody have any factual info on this bizarre scenario: 1. Gore/Buse comes down to Florida absentee ballots 2. Most absentee ballots are military personnel who are generally of Republican/conservative bent, so it will strongly favor Bush **BUT** … 3. Some _unknown number_ of Floridians are dual citizen resident in Israel, who might well be expected to vote for Gore and (need I point out) Lieberman… What are the numbers? How many Floridians are also sending in absentee ballots from Israel? Can you imagine how the anit-Semitic right wing loonies will react if it turns out that _Jews_ living in _Israel_ decided the US presidential election!! ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-al-gore/40843/2 "2000-11-12T01:30:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elucidator \* > \*\*Does anybody have any factual info on this bizarre scenario: > > 1. Gore/Buse comes down to Florida absentee ballots > > 2. Most absentee ballots are military personnel who are generally of Republican/conservative bent, so it will strongly favor Bush **BUT** … > > 3. Some _unknown number_ of Floridians are dual citizen resident in Israel, who might well be expected to vote for Gore and (need I point out) Lieberman… > > What are the numbers? How many Floridians are also sending in absentee ballots from Israel? > > Can you imagine how the anit-Semitic right wing loonies will react if it turns out that _Jews_ living in _Israel_ decided the US presidential election!! \*\* Probably not too many are doing so. I have numerous friends and family who (all American citizens) now live in Israel. Not a single one cast a ballot in the U.S. elections. Most of the absentee ballots are military and diplomatic personnel. As for the right wing loonies… they already believe that the Jews run the government, so this election wouldn’t provide anything new for them. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-al-gore/40843/3 "2000-11-12T01:31:06Z")
I’m far from a anti-semetic right wing loonie, but if \* anyone\* living in a _foreign country_ as a citizen casts a vote that decides our government I will be pissed. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-al-gore/40843/4 "2000-11-12T01:36:50Z")
Just for clarification, I threw that ‘as a citizen’ in there to make it clear that I don’t have an objection for military people abroad to vote. I want to make it clear that they absolutely should vote, but this whole dual-citizenship thing(which I have heard a lot of confusing things about what exactly happens when) is wrong as hell(if it even happens). ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-al-gore/40843/5 "2000-11-12T02:02:24Z")
Keep in mind, we’re talking only a matter of _hundreds_ here, not millions or even thousands! Anybody got any idea how many US/Israeli citizens (especially if registered in Florida!)? The Chinese curse goes “May you live in interesting times” I voted against Nixon, and lost. Hard to scare me. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-al-gore/40843/6 "2000-11-12T02:16:13Z")
Wulll, golly, citizen, do you suppose that a dual citizen might get to vote twice? I mean, so ya think maybe some folks voted for Mr. Gore AND Mr. Barak? Shocking ! Such a dizzying concentration of power ! And in a furrin place, too ! I’m proud to be an American in such a puzzling historic time. Fifty years from now, historians will claim to have figured it out. Freedom of Information Act, and all that…maybe they’ll be right. Probably, they won’t. From the cases of pints of Thunderbird to the secret software patches to the secret capped oil wells to the governor’s plane crash to the suitcase full of ballots recovered by Guy Noir to the flu bug in Miami Beach… Ahem… Well, wasn’t that a strange little train of thought? Some folks have wild ideas about elections, fueled by James Ellmore novels and Rush Limbaugh radio fantasies. Some folks have small dogs fueled by Eukanuba. Some folks have small toys fueled by a frenetic bunny, beating a drum. Some folks have small cars fueled by a tiger, in their tanks. Some folks are getting bored by all this. Me, too. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-al-gore/40843/7 "2000-11-12T04:37:45Z")
> [@](#): > > I mean, so ya think maybe some folks voted for Mr. Gore AND Mr. Barak? Guilty as charged! I voted for Clinton in '92, Clinton in '96, Netanyahu in '96 and Barak in '99. That’s right - everyone I’ve ever voted for has won. There are an estimated 80,000 American citizens in Israel, about 2,000 of them registered in Florida. I don’t know how many of them bothered to vote. On the one hand, it’s a long way away, a beaurocratic hassle and folks back home have had a lot on their mind for the last month or so. On the other hand, Israelis are far more political than Americans (we’ve never dropped below 90% voter turnout), and _nobody_ voted Bush. My call - 400 Gore votes from Israel. So Wolfman - nya nya nya! ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-al-gore/40843/8 "2000-11-12T06:57:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wolfman \* > \*\*Just for clarification, I threw that ‘as a citizen’ in there to make it clear that I don’t have an objection for military people abroad to vote. I want to make it clear that they absolutely should vote, but this whole dual-citizenship thing(which I have heard a lot of confusing things about what exactly happens when) is wrong as hell(if it even happens). \*\* Please, sir, I’m an American living abroad, and I _don’t_ have dual citizenship (or any plans to acquire it). May I please vote? Pretty please? :rolleyes: Incidentally, the overseas military votes are not guaranteed to go either way. They form a diverse group with their own opinions about many things, including who they want for President! Imagine that! ---
**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-al-gore/40843/9 "2000-11-12T08:17:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by flodnak \* > \*\*Incidentally, the overseas military votes are not guaranteed to go either way. They form a diverse group with their own opinions about many things, including who they want for President! Imagine that! \*\* No we’re not! We’re all mindless robots programmed to follow orders without question! [sup]Oops! I said that aloud, didn’t I?[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-al-gore/40843/10 "2000-11-12T16:36:01Z")
I am also an American citizen living in Israel as an Israeli citizen. I didn’t vote this time, but I did in 96. (I come from Massachussets, so I didn’t figure my vote for Gore would do much good.) From what I have read, Alessan’s estimates seem about right. As to Wolfman’s concern: do you realize that American citizens living abroad, even as dual citizens, are still taxed in America? Shouldn’t that entitle them the right to vote? Lastly, I think it somewhat fitting that Israelis could determine the American election, considering the amount of pressure the American goverment used to influence the last several Israeli elections. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-al-gore/40843/11 "2000-11-12T16:38:15Z")
Another thing to consider is the candidates’ positions on the military. Gore has indicated that he will continue Clinton’s military policies. Given the abysmally low moral in our military today, I doubt this was a popular position with them. OTOH, Bush has promised to build up the military and remove the US military from the Balkans. What I’ve heard suggests that getting the hell out of Kosovo would be popular with our troops. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-al-gore/40843/12 "2000-11-12T17:29:00Z")
You might be interested in this blurb from [Stars and Stripes](http://www.pstripes.com/ed081000e.html). It mentions that 80 percent of voters abroad leaned Republican in 1996; “many” of them were military. The cant towards the Republicans isn’t the sole trait of the military. Diplomatic staffs worldwide are disaffected by the Clinton administration as well. That comes from my personal observation, not any solid evidence. Interestingly, I’ve made a few converts to the Dark Side by pointing out that the dearth of diplomatic appointments worldwide is the disgustingly partisan work of [Jesse Helms](http://www.canoe.ca/TimeCanada0005/29_time18.html). He has abused his position as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to block the nominations of ambassadors for over six years, and has weaseled his way into the epicenter of American foreign policy. Helms is a racist, provincial, partisan politician of the most virulent kind, and before this gets yanked to GD, I suggest you research the man’s record first before questioning the veracity of this statement. I have no explanation at all for how people in the foreign service can be so ignorant of internal affairs here in America, but that’s what I’ve seen firsthand. It won’t be Israel that decides the election. It might be Jesse Helms.