Poll finds LGBT community prefers Blue and White

The Aguda estimated that some 500,000 Israelis who are out of the closet are expected to vote in the April 9 election.

By GIL HOFFMAN
Blue and White leaders, (L-R) Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid, Moshe (Bogie) Yaalon, and Gabi Ashkenazi, at a press conference, April 1st, 2019 (photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)
Blue and White leaders, (L-R) Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid, Moshe (Bogie) Yaalon, and Gabi Ashkenazi, at a press conference, April 1st, 2019
(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)
The Blue and White Party will receive the most votes from members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual community in Israel, according to a poll released Monday by The Aguda, the Israeli LGBT Task Force.
The Aguda estimates that some 500,000 Israelis who are out of the closet are expected to vote in the April 9 election. The organization is encouraging members of the community to only vote for parties that have committed to advance an LGBT agenda.
The poll found that 31% of the community intends to vote for Blue and White, which has three gay candidates: Former Ra'anana mayor Eitan Ginzburg, who is 32nd on the list; activist Idan Roll, who is 34th; and student leader Yorai Lahav Hertzano, who is 35th.
Labor – whose third candidate Itzik Shmuli is gay – would receive 24%, Meretz 23%, Likud 6%, Zehut and Gesher 4.5% each, Hadash-Ta’al 3%, Kulanu 1.6% and New Right 1%.
In the 2015 election, most votes from the LGBT community went to the Zionist Union and Meretz, according to The Aguda.
The poll found that 89% of the community intends to vote on April 9. Some 70% said they would only vote for a party that works for equality for the community, while 28% said that although advancing equality was important to them, it would not decide their vote.
There were 550 respondents in the poll from across the country from a  representative sample of the LGBT population.
“Half a million voters are an electoral force, so it is no wonder that the heads of almost all the parties asked to meet with our representatives and hear our concerns,” said Aguda director-general Ohad Hizki. “The heads of the parties must keep in mind that our votes are votes for equality, and we won’t be satisfied with pre-election promises. This time we are demanding that you elect to ensure our equality.”