Zionist Camp sets sights on settler vote

When Zionist Camp Knesset member Yoel Hasson asked if he could pay a visit to the Kida outpost to speak to the settlers there, the local residents agreed, eagerly. In the heart of the settlement movement, in a place where no one was likely to vote for him, Hasson engaged the settlers on Jan. 5 in one of the most fascinating political discussions he had ever had. It also happened to be one of the most relaxed.

Kida is a communal village of 40 families founded in 2002. Hasson went there as part of his party’s effort to reach out to new constituencies on the right and in the development (or periphery) towns. It was part of a program that emerged in response to the party’s failure to win support among these constituencies in the March 2015 elections. In this particular case, however, Hasson knew that he wouldn't be winning new votes for his party. He simply sought to initiate a dialogue, thinking optimistically, “On the day after an agreement is reached [with the Palestinians], we will all have to live together.”