On kibbutzim, 'it's more embarrassing to vote Meretz than Yvet'

Contrary to common wisdom, the left has not died, it has merely been transformed: According to the 2009 election results, Roni Bar-On and Tzachi Hanegbi of Kadima and Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman now speak for a growing number of kibbutzniks and moshavniks in communities near the Gaza Strip.

There is not a kibbutz or moshav in Qassamland where Lieberman's party is not represented. Take Kibbutz Kerem Shalom. Established in 1966 at the place where Israel, Gaza and Egypt meet, its very name, "vineyard of peace," embodied the hope that peace was on the way.

Forty-three years later, Kerem Shalom gave Yisrael Beiteinu more than 21 percent of its votes - twice as many as it gave Labor and 1.5 times as many as it gave Meretz. Of course, the absolute numbers are not as dramatic: Kerem Shalom has 29 voters. Still, the balloting was symbolic of the deep change in Israel.

On average, about 4 percent of kibbutz voters gave Lieberman their vote. But in several of the Eshkol region's moshavim, his support reached double digits. In Moshav Dekel, for example, 21 percent of its 155 votes went to Lieberman - the same percentage that Labor got. In 2006, Labor got almost 30 percent of the vote, while Lieberman got 13 percent.

Another example is Kibbutz Mivtahim, where Lieberman tripled his strength compared to 2006.

"Nobody's embarrassed about voting for Lieberman," said Kibbutz Kerem Shalom's secretary, Iris Lavi, a self-described leftist who voted for Kadima. "It's more embarrassing to vote for Meretz than for Lieberman these days."

Kerem Shalom seems to be undergoing a change from a kibbutz to a front-line military base. Three tanks are stationed here permanently, and a gray curving wall has surrounded the kibbutz since the disengagement from Gaza in 2005. Gaza is only a few meters away, and the community is protected by a variety of electronic devices. The latest form of protection is a field full of water tanks, intended to stop tunnels from being dug to its doorsteps. An army base has been set up 200 meters from the kibbutz.

"The rise of Lieberman bothers us," conceded Gavri Bar-Gil, until recently secretary of the Kibbutz Movement. He cited a "buzz of protest" as a factor, particularly among younger voters who have served in the military and who, he said, come back hating Arabs.

Amit Caspi, 38, is a Lieberman voter from Kerem Shalom. He and his family moved here from the Haifa Bay area five years ago, looking for a different lifestyle. He comes from a staunch Labor home and was always a Labor voter himself, but no more. The turning point for him, he said, was two protests during the Gaza war, one by Arabs in Sakhnin and the other by leftists opposite the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv.

"After years in which I rejected this argument, I now realize that the Arabs really only understand force," he said. "I looked for the strongest leader, and I found Lieberman."

However, he added, "my vote has nothing to do with Yvet [Lieberman] personally. For me, he is the trigger for a solution."