Under pressure on the eve of a surprisingly close election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Monday doubled down on his appeal to right-wing voters, declaring definitively that if he was returned to office he would never establish a Palestinian state
“I promise: I will be a prime minister to everyone,” said Mr. Herzog, 54. “For right and left, for settlers, Haredim, Druze, Arabs, Circassians; I will be prime minister for the center and for the periphery.”
I had no idea that Israel had enough Circassian voters to make a difference.
Wiki offers: "The Circassians arrived in the Middle East after they were expelled from their homeland in the northern Caucasus. The Circassians, who fought during the long period (see the Russian-Circassian War) wherein the Russians captured the northern Caucasus, were massacred and expelled by Czarist Russia from the Caucasus. The Ottoman Empire, which saw the Circassians as experienced fighters, absorbed them in their territory and settled them in sparsely populated areas, including the Galilee."
Bibi is also going after these minority voters. It is a close election down to the wire. Only 3 days ago, 20% were telling pollsters they were undecided.
Bibi called these elections but apparently didn't expect his former U.S. ambassador, David Orem, to lead an opposition party and fracture the Likud vote.
Wiki's Demographics of Israel page offers info about Israel's many other less-known minorities like Samaritans and Arameans and Assyrians and Copts and others.
