Ani Yehudi gei'eh

So last night I got my first telephone pollster for the Likud primaries.

I will preface this by saying that I have not yet compiled a full list of which candidates I support and will vote for in the primaries. Basically, every member of the Likud can vote for 10 candidates from the list. When the votes are tallied, the number of votes will decide which candidate gets in, and at which position in the list.

So, I know a few of the candidates I will be supporting, but I do not have a full list of ten.

The guy calls and asks me about a few specific candidates and whether there is a good chance I will vote for them or not. He listed about 4 of the bigger name, ending with Moshe Feiglin. That rang a bell, and I suspected the poll was to try to calculate how much support Feiglin actually has and if his chances are realistic or not. The names listed were names like Begin, Meridor, Jabotinsky, and Feiglin (I do not remember if these 4 were the specific names, but I think they were).

After that he asked me a few questions specifically about Feiglin. he asked if I think that if Feiglin gets in if it will hurt or help the Likud. I responded that I already said I am voting for Moshe Feiglin, so obviously I think it will help the Likud.
He asked that some say if Feiglin gets in, the Likud will lose possibly 6 mandates - will you still vote for Feiglin. I said I disagree with that opinion, so I will still be voting Feiglin.
He asked further - if Bibi Netanyahu gives specific instructions to not vote Feiglin because it will hurt the Likud, will you still vote Feiglin or will you not? I said I disagree with that opinion, and therefore I will still be voting Feiglin.

After that, he went through a list of names of various candidates, about 20 of them, asking me to say which ones I had a good chance to vote for, good chance not to, definitely will, or definitely will not.

As I said before, I have not really compiled a full list yet, so I ended up saying yes to too many people, because whenever I heard the name of someone I know I like, I said I would likely vote for him. So we had to go through the list again and whittle away a few names to get my list down to 10.

The truth is that I do not remember which names, other than a few of them, I said I would vote for and which I would not. I remember saying NO to Dan Meridor, Yechiel Leiter, Assaf Hefetz, and Yossi Peled. I remember saying YES to Benny Begin, Ruby Rivlin, Zev Jabotinsky (not sure why - I think it is the name appeal even though I know nothing about him) and I think Gilad Erdan.

There were many more in the list that I do not remember. Thankfully it was just a poll, and not a commitment, because I cannot even remember who I said yes to... I really have to start sitting down and going through the list of candidates and deciding which 10 I will vote for. One thing I am waiting for is to see the various recommended lists (that will be put out by various big names, such as Moshe Feiglin, Bibi Netanyahu, and others), and pick some from those lists based on helping certain agendas be achievable....

When we finally completed all the names, he said, "Now, just one final question - are you a hiloni, masorati, dati or haredi Jew?"

I answered "Just a Jew. Simply a Jew."

He laughed and said, "But what should I write down on the form?"

I said write "Ani Yehudi Gei'eh" - "I am a proud Jew."

This was the first of what is goign to likely be many polls....