Did Israel's Air Force Pilots Vote Against a War with Iran?
Aluf Benn thinks it's possible:
'It is hard to know what the combat pilots think about the prime minister and attacking Iran, but the outcome of the election reveals an interesting clue. In the five family residential quarters on air force bases where polling stations were opened, Yesh Atid won big over Likud-Beiteinu. This was the case at Tel Nof, Hatzerim, Nevatim, Ovda and Ramon. Only at the Hatzor base were more ballots with the Likud letters â??mem-het-lamedâ? cast than with the Yesh Atid letters â??peh-heh.â? The voter turnout rate in the air force was identical to the national average 67.7 percent and of the 681 eligible voters, 32.2 percent supported Yair Lapid and 20 percent supported Benjamin Netanyahu.The conclusion is obvious. In the pilotsâ?? neighborhoods, people preferred Lapid and were not impressed by Netanyahuâ??s gestures, attention or generous budgets.
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I'm in no position to say if Benn's read on this is correct, but it wouldn't be surprising. In the U.S., anti-interventionists like Ron Paul often enjoy strong support from military service members.
(AP Photo)