(photo: SHARON UDASIN)
By Sharon Udasin - March 17, 2015
Originally appeared here in The Jerusalem Post
While just a brave few took to the still chilly waves on a breezy but sunny Tuesday afternoon, families came out in droves to build sand castles, play matkot and enjoy post-voting barbecues at Palmahim National Park this Election Day.
With most companies closing their doors for Election Day – as employees working were required to receive 200 percent salary compensation – Israelis flocked to the country’s national parks, nature reserves, beaches and malls, eager to take advantage of their extra vacation. At Palmahim Beach, located just south of Rishon Lezion in central Israel, families and friends gathered to enjoy picnic lunches, catch up on reading and generally escape their everyday routines.
Three moms from Modi’in, sat chatting and enjoying their lunch, with six kids and one dogs playing around them.
“Our husbands went on the Israel Trail and we’re the abandoned wives,” one of the moms, Alana Stern, told The Jerusalem Post.
“My husband got up at 6 a.m. to vote at 7 a.m. and be at the trail by 8 a.m.,” added her friend Adina Yagod. Read More