Supposedly, according to a couple articles I read, they expect this law to bring them in some young voters after polls indicate waning interest among the general public in Yesh Atid, but that seems to be an assumption. This is being assumed because a number of parties, including Yesh Atid, have mentioned that they expect new elections in the near future...
In their explanation to the proposal they explain that 17 year-olds in Israel are mature and responsible - they can drive, they can go through testing for units in the IDF and more. Their involvement in society and politics is unavoidable. Young people today are fully aware of information about society and the State, sometimes even much more so than those older. They should also be able to choose their representation.
If these teens are so responsible at 17, why did the Knesset recently say they are not responsible enough to get married? If they can drive and read the news they should also be able to get married, by this logic! I am not against 17 year-olds voting, but why pick that age? Why not 16? why not leave it at 18?
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How about the minimum age to serve in the army, or the minimum age the Rabbanut requires to be ordained in the Rabbanut smicha program? Or maybe only after someone is married for a couple of years, to prove they no longer vote only the way their parents tell them!
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