There you have it - a photo of my ballot.

I voted for Meretz, although I did consider Peretz for a couple of weeks. I knew that there was almost no chance of the next government showing any imaginative initiative regarding the conflict, and that the best I could hope for was unilateralism. We all seem to be quite stuck around here, and I don't expect that to change any time soon. So I based my vote on issues of social justice - women's rights, benefits for the poor, and so on.

One of the things that impresses me about Meretz is that a lot of community activists in the towns on the periphery have spoken to me enthusiastically of the party's work on their behalf - even though those same community leaders are die-hard Likud voters. It seems that Meretz activists frequently visit underprivileged areas, talk to the community about their needs and then work to get public funds to pay for them. And they don't make a lot of noise about it, either. I also know a couple of candidates who are quite high on the list, and know they are people with genuine integrity. So... Meretz.

Then, on election day, I met my favourite candidate stumping for last-minute votes on Rothschild Boulevard. An ultra-Orthodox woman who believes in separation between religion and state is my kind of candidate. So I took her photo, shook her hand and told her that she was a big part of the reason I'd voted for her party.



She had a lovely, warm handshake.

I'm sorry the party received only five mandates, but I'm completely unambivalent about my vote.